LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



rapt. 1^7. 

AS N^r 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



V 



NOTES 




ON THE 



SHORTER CATECHISM. 




" Train up a child in the way he should go : and when he is old, he will 
not depart from it." — Prov. xxii. 6. 

"And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which 
are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in 
Christ Jesus."— 2 Tim. iii. 15. 



PHILADELPHIA : 
PRESBYTERIAN BOAED OF PUBLICATION, 




BY 



ALFRED NEVIN, D.D., LL.D. 




1334 CHESTNUT STREET. 





Enterpd according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by 

THE TRUSTEES OF THE 

PRESBYTEKIAN BOAKD OF PUBLICATION, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



Westcott & Thomson, 
Stereotypers and Mectrotypers, Philada. 



THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 



The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
in the United States has said, " We believe that no 
uninspired men have ever been able to exhibit, in as 
short a compass, safer and sounder views of the doc- 
trines of salvation than are contained in our Larger 
and Shorter Catechisms." It may well be assumed 
that many who love these precious standards of our 
Church, and have not access to fuller sources of infor- 
mation respecting them, will be gratified to glance at 
the history of the Assembly in which they originated. 

On June 12, 1643, in the reign of Charles L, an 
ordinance of Parliament was issued calling an assem- 
bly of divines to meet at Westminster on the first day 
of the next month. This ordinance originated in a 
grateful recognition of the blessings of Almighty God 
upon the nation, and in a conviction that as yet many 
things remained in the liturgy, discipline and govern- 
ment of the English Church which necessarily re- 
quired a further and more thorough reformation than 
had yet been attained. The names contained in the 
ordinance amounted to one hundred and fifty-one — 
namely, ten lords and twenty commoners as lay 
assessors, and one hundred and twenty-one divines. 
Of this list, about twenty-five never appeared at the 
Assembly, one or two having died about the time it 

5 



6 THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 



met, and others fearing the displeasure of the king or 
having a preference for the prelatic system. In order 
to supply the deficiency thus caused, and also occa- 
sional diminution caused by death during the pro- 
tracted sittings of the Assembly, the Parliament sum- 
moned about twenty-one additional members, who 
were termed the superadded divines. 

On Saturday, the first day of July, the members of 
the two Houses of Parliament named in the ordinance, 
and many of the divines therein mentioned, with a 
vast congregation, met in the Abbey Church, West- 
minster. Dr. Twisse, who had been named in the or- 
dinance as president, preached an elaborate sermon 
from the text, " I will not leave you comfortless ; I 
will come to you " (John xiv. 18). After the sermon 
all the members present adjourned to Henry VII.'s 
Chapel, and the roll of members being called, it ap- 
peared that there were sixty-nine clerical members 
present on that the first day of the Westminster As- 
sembly. 

Our limits will only allow us to notice the Scottish 
ministerial members of this body, so famous for its 
intellectual force and adherence to truth. Henderson, 
Gillespie, Rutherford and Baillie occupied a high and 
commanding rank in the Scottish Church. The great 
abilities of these eminent men attracted the attention 
of the English of all ranks in a very remarkable man- 
ner, and recommended the Presbyterian system of 
church government much more effectually than argu- 
ments alone could have done. Nor was this strange. 
Henderson was a man of uncommon prudence and 
sagacity, profound judgment, decided eloquence and 



THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 



7 



the most attractive amenity of manners. He was one 
of those gifted men whom the Ruler of all events 
sends forth, in time of great emergency, to mould the 
minds of his fellow-men and aid in working out the 
will of the Most High. He was one of the most dis- 
tinguished of an age fertile in great men, and, with all 
due veneration for the names of Knox and Melville, 
we do them no discredit when we place that of Hen- 
derson by their side — the " first three " of the Church 
of Scotland's worthies. Baillie, though greatly in- 
ferior to Henderson in mental powers and somewhat 
fickle in disposition, arising from a facile " temper and 
constitutional timidity, was one of the most learned 
men of his time. Rutherford, in addition to his 
scholarly attainments, was possessed of peculiar heav- 
enly-mindedness. For his fidelity to principle the 
deadly gripe of the Parliament, in his subsequent 
history, was attempted to be laid on him. Not con- 
tent with burning his work entitled Lex Rex, they 
summoned him to appear before them at Edinburgh 
to answer to a charge of high treason. He was at 
that time lying on his death-bed. "Tell them," re- 
plied he, " that I have received a summons already to 
appear before a superior Judge and judicatory, and I 
behoove to answer my first summons ; and ere your 
day arrive, I will be where few kings and great folks 
come." Gillespie, though still a very young man, had 
already proved himself to be endowed with powers and 
possessed of acquirements of the very highest order:; 
his learning was both extensive and singularly minute, 
his intellect clear, acute and powerful, qualifying him 
for eminence in debate, and his high and fervid elo- 



8 



THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 



quence was pervaded by that electric energy which is 
an essential attribute of true genius. 

The chief duties of the Assembly, of which these 
men were ornaments, were discharged when they had 
prepared and laid before the Parliament directories of 
ordination and worship. Its attention was occupied 
almost entirely by the discussions respecting these till 
toward the end of 1644. The Assembly then began to 
prepare for composing a Confession of Faith and a 
Catechism, and, according to its usual course of pro- 
cedure, committees were appointed to draw up an out- 
line, in regular systematic order, for its consideration. 
But progress in these points was retarded by various 
events. On the 22d of October, 1647, "the Larger 
Catechism was ordered to be sent up to both Houses 
of Parliament, by the prolocutor, attended with the 
whole Assembly." Nov. 26, 1647, "the prolocutor 
informed the Assembly that he had delivered the 
Short Catechism and message to the House of Com- 
mons [25th November] .... the Short Catechism be 
printed as the Larger, and Scriptures affixed to the 
margins of both the Catechisms/' April 14, 1648, 
" the prolocutor informed the Assembly he had deliv- 
ered the Catechisms [to the House of Commons], and 
was called in and told that they had ordered 600 
copies with the proofs to be printed for the use of the 
Assembly and two houses." (See Minutes of the West- 
minster Assembly, Edinburgh, 1874.) After they had 
been carefully perused by the Parliament, an order 
was issued on the 15th of September, 1648, command- 
ing them to be printed for public use. 

By whom was the original outline of the Catechism 



THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 



9 



prepared ? We find no separate committee named ex- 
pressly for the purpose of drawing up the Catechism, 
and we find repeated proofs of a very close connection 
between the Catechism and the Confession. It may 
reasonably be inferred, therefore, that both subjects 
were conducted by the same committee, which was 
composed of Drs. Gouge and Hoyle, and Messrs. 
Herle, Gataker, Tuckney, Reynolds, Vines and the 
Scottish ministers. 

After the completion of the Catechism the business 
of the Assembly was virtually at an end. But the 
Parliament neither fully approved nor rejected the 
Assembly's productions, nor yet issued an ordinance 
for a formal dissolution of that venerable body. Ne- 
gotiations were still going on with the king, and in 
one of the papers which passed between His Majesty 
and the Parliament he signified his willingness to 
sanction the continuation of Presbyterian church 
government for three years, and also that the Assem- 
bly should continue to sit and deliberate, His Majesty 
being allowed to nominate twenty Episcopalian divines 
to be added to it for the purpose of having the whole 
subject of religion again formally debated. To this 
proposal the Parliament refused to consent, but it 
probably tended to prevent them from formally dis- 
solving the Assembly, so long as there remained any 
shadow of hope that a pacific arrangement might be 
effected with His Majesty. 

In the mean time many members of the Assembly, 
especially those from the country, returned to their 
own homes and ordinary duties, and those who re- 
mained in London were chiefly engaged in the exami- 



10 THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 



nation of such ministers as presented themselves for 
ordination or induction into vacant charges. They 
continued to maintain their formal existence till the 
22d of February, 1649, about three weeks after the 
king's decapitation, having sat five years six months 
and twenty-two days, in which time they had held one 
thousand one hundred and sixty-three sessions. They 
were then changed into a committee for conducting 
the trial and examination of ministers, and continued 
to hold meetings for this purpose every Thursday 
morning till the 25th of March, 1652, when Oliver 
Cromwell having forcibly dissolved the Long Parlia- 
ment, by whose authority the Assembly had been at 
first called together, that committee also broke up, and 
separated without any formal dissolution and as a 
matter of necessity. 

We only add that what the Westminster Assembly 
did in the formation of a rule of faith and a form of 
church government, and, as it hoped, for both nations, 
was ultimately rejected by the English and adopted 
by the Scotch. The Presbyterian Church in our 
country derives its origin from that of Scotland, and 
has taken its Confession of Faith, with some important 
alterations relative to magistrates and civil govern- 
ment, and its Catechisms, with only one slight alter- 
ation, from the Scottish model. The present standards 
of our Church were adopted by the Synod of New 
York and Philadelphia, sitting in the latter city, in 
May, 1789. In reference to the slight alteration — or 
omission rather — just mentioned, Dr. Ashbel Green 
says : " It was in the Larger Catechism, where, in 
stating what is forbidden in the second commandment, 



THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 11 



the original framers of the Catechism, among many 
things which they specify, mention this : ' tolerating a 
false religion.' This clause, as a member of the Synod 
that adopted our standards, I remember was rejected 
very promptly — I think without debate — and by a 
unanimous vote." 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



Question 1. — What is the chief end of manf 
Answer. — Man's chief end is to glorify God and to 
enjoy him forever. 

President Humphrey says: "For myself, though I confess 
with shame that when my mother used to give me my little 
task and teach me The chief end of man, I would gladly have 
been excused from both, and wondered what good thing they 
could ever do me ; I subsequently found abundant cause to be 
thankful for her fidelity and perseverance. I was astonished, 
when I began to read the Bible seriously, and to collect and 
arrange its doctrines, to find what a fund of definitions and im- 
portant scriptural truths I had got treasured up for the occasion. 
And how delightful it is to hear, as we sometimes do, the aged 
disciple just on the verge of heaven repeating with thrilling 
interest and feasting his soul upon the definitions of justification, 
adoption, sanctification and the like, which, three-quarters of a 
century before, were imprinted indelibly upon his memory in 
the nursery I" 

The daughter of a faithful minister who died in Pennsyl- 
vania, in describing his final hour, says : " He summoned his 
family to his bedside ; gazing upon us all, he thus addressed us: 
' My poor girls !' paused, and then asked : 1 What is the chief 
end of man?' This question I answered in the words of the 
Shorter Catechism. After this not another word was spoken 
by him ; he closed his eyes, and soon calmly and peacefully ex- 
pired. At the time I did not feel that much had been said to 
me by my dying father, as I had so often been asked, and an- 
swered, the question before. Very different, however, has been 
my opinion under a riper judgment and experience. A volume 

13 



14 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



could not have embodied more. In no way could the moment- 
ous importance of that weighty question have been presented so 
as to secure for it a more abiding remembrance and a deeper 
lodgment in the soul." 

MIGHT WAT TO BEGIN. 

This question is with great propriety made the first 
subject of attention in a system of theological truth. 
Even in natural religion this is considered as the place 
at which all inquiry and discussion must commence. 
Dr. Hall says : " ' Man's chief end !' From man up to 
God ! It was fitting that the Catechism should begin 
in this noble manner. It is characteristic of the 
strong, clear, positive religious truth that runs through 
it. And as we conceive of the aim and object of life, 
life is likely to be. Oh for grace to judge of it justly, 
and to yield it up to God in Jesus Christ our Lord !" 

A twofold end of man's life is here stated, or, rather, 
one end, consisting in action and fruition. 

I. GLORIFYING GOD. 

The glory of God is essential and declarative. The 
former belongs to him as light to the sun, and can re- 
ceive no addition, because it is infinite. (Acts vii. 2 ; 
Job xxxv. 7.) In this sense he is exalted above all 
blessing and praise. Our goodness extendeth not to 
him. (Ps. xvi. 2.) But " the heavens declare the glory 
of God," all his works praise him. (Ps. xix. 1.) How? 
By the impressions and displays of his perfections ; by 
showing what he is and what he deserves. (1 Chron. 
xvi. 29.) 

In general, we are to glorify God in our " body " 
and in our " spirit " — that is, by exertions peculiar to 
each. (1 Cor. vi. 20.) As to the body, we are to do 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 15 

this in guarding our health, watching our senses, regu- 
lating our appetites, opposing idleness and intemper- 
ance, yielding our members as instruments of right- 
eousness unto God (Rom. vi. 13), and rendering our 
natural refreshments and our secular callings sub- 
servient to religion. (See 1 Cor. x. 31.) As to the 
spirit, we are to glorify God in the understanding by 
exploring his truth ; in the memory, by retaining his 
word ; in the conscience, by fearing to offend him ; in 
the will, by submitting to his commands and acqui- 
escing in his dispensations ; in our affections, by loving 
him above all ; and in our dependence, by rejoicing in 
Christ Jesus and having no confidence in the flesh. 
(Phil. iii. 3.) 

In particular, we are to glorify God — I. By believ- 
ing. (Rom. iv. 20 ; Acts viii. 37, 39 ; Dan. iii. 17 ; 
Ps. xxxi. 5 ; John iii. 23 ; Heb. xi. 6 ; 1 John v. 10.) 
II. By a penitent confession of sin. (Luke xxiii. 41 ; 
xv. 18 ; Josh. vii. 19 ; Neh. ix. 33.) III. By laying to 
heart any dishonor done to God. (Ps. lxix. 9.) IV. 
By acknowledging that he is the Author of all that is 
good in us. (Ps. cxv. 1 ; 1 Cor. xv. 10.) V. By 
praising him. (Ps. 1. 23; lxxxvi. 12; Rev. v. 8, 10.) 

VI. By our holy walk. (Matt. v. 16 ; 1 Pet. ii. 9 ; 
1 John ii. 6.) 

" Thus shall we best proclaim abroad 
The honors of our Saviour God, 
When the salvation reigns within 
And grace subdues the power of sin." 

VII. By the cheerfulness of our lives. (2 Cor. vi. 10; 
Ps. c. 2.) VIII. By our profession of the name of 
God. (Rom. x. 10 ; Heb. x. 23.) IX. By faithful- 



16 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

ness in his service, (John xv. 8 ; Luke vii. 47 ; Rom. 
xiv. 8 ; 2 Cor. v. 15 ; Phil. i. 11.) X. By our readi- 
ness to suffer for his sake. (Acts v. 41 ; 2 Cor. xi. 25- 
27 ; John xxi. 18, 19 ; Rev. xii. 11.) XI. By prefer- 
ring his glory to all other things. (Deut. xxxiii. 9 ; 
John xii. 28 ; Phil. i. 15.) 

II. ENJOYING GOn. 

What is it to " enjoy God " ? To acquiesce or rest 
in him as the chief good with complacency and de- 
light. (Ps. cxvi. 7.) God is the proper portion of 
the soul (Ps. xvi. 5), and without a saving interest in 
him through Christ there cannot be any real or endur- 
ing happiness. (Eccles. i. 2 ; Ps. xxx. 5 ; lxiii. 3, 4, 6, 
7 ; lxxiii. 28.) There is, let it be observed, an insep- 
arable connection between glorifying and enjoying God. 
We must have conformity with him in grace before 
we can have communion with him on earth or in 
glory. (Ps. lxxxiv. 4, 11 ; Matt. v. 8 ; 2 Thess. i. 10.) 
God is enjoyed by his people in this life when they 
cleave to him by faith, taste his goodness and delight 
themselves in his gracious presence and the sensible 
manifestations of his special love to them. (Josh, 
xxiii. 8 ; Ps. xxxiv. 8 ; Rom. v. 5.) 

" God has been cutting off one source of enjoyment after an- 
other," said the Kev. Dr. Payson on a sick bed, " till I find I 
can do without them all, and yet enjoy more happiness than 
ever in my life before." — " It has pleased God lately to teach 
me more than ever," said the Eev. Samuel Peirce, " that like- 
ness to him, friendship for him and communion with him, 
form the basis of all true enjoyment." 

" The men of grace have found 
Glory begun below, 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 17 



And heavenly fruits on earthly ground 
From faith and hope will grow." 

The principal enjoyment of God, however, is re- 
served for heaven. (Ps. lxxiii. 25-28 ; 1 Cor. xiii. 12 ; 
Heb. iv. 9.) Here the enjoyment is only partial — there 
it will be full and complete (1 John iii. 2) ; here it is 
only in the seed, or first-fruits — there it will be in the 
full harvest. (Ps. cxxvi. 5, 6.) That enjoyment will 
be not only in inspection, but also in possession. (John 
xvii. 4, 5 ; Rom. viii. 18.) His presence is the source 
of happiness. (Ps. xvi. 11.) 

" Blessed be God," said Dr. Preston, when dying, " though 
I change my place, I shall not change my company, for I have 
walked with God while living, and now I go to rest with God !" 

FOR EVER. 

" The thing I rejoice in is this," said Halyburton, " that 
God is altogether full, and that in the Mediator, Christ Jesus, 
is all the fullness of the Godhead, and it will never run out." 

An eminent minister, after having been silent in company 
for a considerable time, and being asked the reason, replied 
that the powers of his mind had been solemnly absorbed with 
the thought of eternal happiness. " Oh, my friends," said he 
with an energy that surprised all present, " consider what it is 
to be for ever with the Lord — for ever — for ever — for EVER !" 
(Ps. xvii. 15 ; xxxvi. 9 ; 1 Pet. v. 4.) How should the pros- 
pect of being eternally under the divine rapture of joy stimu- 
late to diligence in duty ! (1 Cor. xv. 10 ; 1 Thess. iv. 17.) 

"CHIEF END." 

These words mean that it is our great duty and in- 
terest to " glorify God and to enjoy him for ever." Our 
happiness is not our chief end, but the glory of God 
itself, in aiming at which chiefly we cannot miss the 
enjoyment of him. (Isa. ii. 11; xlii. 8; Ps. cxiii. 4.) 

2 



18 NOTES ON THE SHOETEE CATECHISM. 



We may have other objects in view, such as providing 
for ourselves and our families, and securing such a 
portion of the good things of the world as are needful 
and useful, but these are to be subordinate ends, and 
subservient to the great end of our existence as already 
stated. (Ps. lxxiii. 25, 26 ; 1 Cor. x. 31 ; 1 Thess. iv. 

II, 12; 1 Tim. v. 8.) 

KEASOX8. 

Why are we thus to do ? I. Because we are rational 
creatures. (Job xxxii. 8 ; xxxv. 11.) The inanimate 
creatures glorify God (Ps. xix. 1 ; Isa. xliii. 20) ; how 
much more should man who has been made " a little 
lower than the angels " ! (Heb. ii. 7.) II. Because 
God is our Creator, Preserver and Redeemer. (Ps. 
c. 3 ; Isa. xliii. 21 ; Rom. xi. 36 ; 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20.) 

III. Because God has made all things for his own glory. 
(Prov. xvi. 4 ; Isa. xliii. 21 ; 1 Pet. ii. 9.) IV. Because 
God has given us his word to direct, his Spirit to assist, 
and promises his kingdom to encourage us to glorify him. 
(Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20 Rom. viii. 26 ; James ii. 5.) V. 
Because God is the chief good, and in the enjoyment of 
him consists man's highest happiness. (Ps. iv. 6, 7 ; 
Matt. xvi. 26 ; Ps. xvi. 5.) VI. Because nothing so 
much secures our happy enjoyment of God as the con- 
cern that his glory has in it. His promise of eternal 
life to us stands upon the honor of his faithfulness. 
(Heb. x. 23.) 

Thomas Carlyle, who is still a power in literature, says : 
" As I stand on the brink of eternity no truth so fully meets 
my wants or so satisfies my intellect as that stated in the 
Shorter Catechism : ' Man's chief end is to glorify God and 
to enjoy him for ever.' " 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 19 



Question 2. — What rule has God given to direct us 
how we may glorify and enjoy him f 

Answer. — The word of God, which is contained in 
the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the 
only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him. 

" This lamp from off the everlasting throne 
Mercy took down, and in the night of time 
Stood, casting on the dark her gracious bow, 
And evermore beseeching men with tears 
And earnest sighs to hear, believe and live." 

Pollok. 

Colonel Allen, a celebrated infidel of this country, was one 
day summoned from his library to the chamber of a dying 
daughter, whom her pious mother instructed in the principles 
of Christianity. As soon as he approached her bedside she 
said to him: " Father, I am about to die. Shall I believe in 
the principles which you have recommended, or shall I believe 
in what my mother has taught me ?" He became extremely 
agitated, his chin quivered, his whole frame shook, and after 
waiting a few moments he replied, " Believe what you have 
learned from your mother." 

A. BJJLE NEEDED. 

" Although the light of nature " ( Confession of Faith, 
chap. i. 1) " and the works of creation and providence 
do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom and power of 
God as to leave men inexcusable (Rom. i. 19, 20; ii. 
14, 15; Ps. xix. 1-3), yet are they not sufficient to 
give that knowledge of God and of his will which is 
necessary unto salvation." (1 Cor. i. 21 ; ii. 13, 14.) 

WORD OF GOD. 

The Bible is called " the word of God " in Luke xi. 
28 ; Rom. ix. 6. When great religious truths are to 



20 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

be unfolded to men, existing words must be used as the 
instruments of such teaching. The Bible is the utter- 
ance of divine wisdom and love. " Word " (in Greek 
Logos) is a name given to Him who " was made flesh 
and dwelt among us " (John i. 14) as the Messiah, the 
Lord Jesus Christ. It may denote that he is the me- 
dium by which the Father declares his will. 

HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THE SCRIPTURES ABE 
INSPIRED? 

I. By their antiquity. They relate matters of fact 
that have been from the foundation of the world. II. 
By their miraculous preservation. They have with- 
stood the efforts of their enemies in every age either 
to destroy or corrupt them. III. By their depth. 
The mystery they exhibit could never have been set 
forth by man or angel unless it had been divinely re- 
vealed. IV. By their purity. Their holiness is a 
reflection of the very image of God. (Ps. xii. 6 ; cxix. 
140.) V. By their predictions. (Ex. xii. 41 ; Dan. 
ix. 26 ; Isa. vii. 14.) VI. By their impartiality. The 
men of God who wrote them recorded their own fail- 
ings. VII. By their mighty power and efficacy. 
They change the hearts of men. (2 Cor. iii. 3.) 
They also comfort their hearts. (Rom. xv. 4; 2 Cor. 
iv. 17; Lam. iii. 31; Ps. cxix. 50.) VIII. By the 
miracles wrought in attestation of their divine origin 
by the prophets and by our Lord and his apostles. 
IX. By the majesty of their style. X. By the agree- 
ment of all their parts. XL By their scope, which is 
to give all glory to God. XII. By their adaptedness 
to man's necessities in every age and country. XIII. 
By the full discovery they make of the only way of 



NOTES OIST THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 21 



man's salvation. XIV. By their own testimony that 
they are inspired. (2 Tim. iii. 16 ; 1 John v. 9 ; 1 
Thess. ii. 13 ; 2 Pet. i. 21 ; Heb. ii. 4.) After all, 
however, our full persuasion and assurance of the di- 
vine origin of the Scriptures is from the inward work 
of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the 
word in our hearts. (1 John ii. 20, 27 ; John xvi. 1 3, 
14; 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11.) 

"I use the Scriptures, not as an arsenal to be resorted to 
only for arms and weapons, . . . but as a matchless temple, 
where I delight to contemplate the beauty, the symmetry and 
the magnificence of the structure, and to increase my awe and 
excite my devotion to the Deity there preached and adored." — • 
Boyle. 

"Scarcely can we fix our eyes upon a single passage in this 
wonderful book which has not afforded comfort or instruction 
to thousands, and been wet with tears of penitential sorrow 
or grateful joy drawn from eyes that will weep no more." — 
Payson. 

" Whence, but from heaven, could men unskilled in arts, 
In several ages born, in several parts, 
Weave such agreeing truths ? or how, or why, 
Should all conspire to cheat us with a lie? 
Unasked their pains, ungrateful their advice, 
Starving their gain and martyrdom their price." 

Dryden. 

Professor Dana, the foremost of living geologists, packs a 
whole volume of argument into two sentences in holding that 
if the first chapter of Genesis is proved to be the right natural 
account of creation, then it must have been written by in- 
spiration. " Examining it as a geologist," adds Professor 
Dana, " I find it to be in perfect accord with known science ; 
therefore as a Christian I assert that the Bible narrative must 
be inspired." 



22 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



SCBIPTUMES. 

This word signifies " writings." In the Bible God 
has written to us the great things of his law and cove- 
nant. (Hos. viii. 12.) Before God's will was com- 
mitted to writing it was made known to the Church 
by immediate revelation (Gen. ii. 16, 17 ; iii. 15) ; by 
frequent appearances of the Son of God (Gen. xviii. 2, 
compared with verses 5, 13; Judg. xiii. 11, compared 
with verses 18, 19) ; by the ministry of angels (Gen. 
xix. 1, 15 ; Heb. ii. 2), and of the patriarchs (Heb. xi. 
7). The word of God was committed to writing, (1) 
that the history and doctrine of the word might be 
better transmitted to posterity than it could have been 
by tradition (2 Pet. iii. 1) ; (2) that the truth might 
be better propagated through the world ; and (3) that 
there might be in the Church a standing rule of faith 
and life by which all doctrines and all actions might 
be tested. (Isa. viii. 20.) 

THE OT.D AND NEW TESTAMENT. 

The Bible is called the Old and the New Testament 
(that is, covenant or appointment), the term by which 
God was pleased to indicate the relation or settled 
arrangement between himself and his people. The 
term was first applied to the relation itself (Ex. xxiv. 
7 ; 2 Kings xxiii. 2 ; 2 Cor. iii. 6-14), and afterward 
to the books in which the records of the relation are 
contained. The Scriptures from Genesis to Malaehi 
are called the Old Testament. The Old Testament 
was written mostly in Hebrew, and was the Bible of 
the ancient Jewish Church. It was divided into three 
parts — the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms (Luke 
xxiv. 44). The Scriptures from Matthew to Revelation 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 23 



are called the New Testament. It was written mostly, 
if not wholly, in Greek, and fully unfolds the history 
and doctrine of our divine Redeemer aDd the way of 
salvation through him. Its parts are united in one 
book, and called The Scriptures (or writings), because 
they form a connected written history and are necessary 
to illustrate, to explain and to confirm each other. 

THE ONLY RULE. 

The Scriptures as a rule are to direct and regulate 
our faith and practice with a view to our attainment 
of the " chief end of man." (Gal. vi. 16.) They are 
the judge of controversies, the rock of infallibility ; 
that only is to be received for truth which is in ac- 
cordance with them. (Luke x. 26 ; Isa. viii. 20 ; Acts 
xv. 15 ; Matt. iv. 10 ; Eph. vi. 17.) They are a suffi- 
cient and complete rule. " The whole counsel of God 
concerning all things necessary for his own glory, 
man's salvation, faith and life ; is either expressly set 
down in Scripture or by good and necessary conse- 
quence may be deduced from Scripture, unto which 
nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new 
revelations of the Spirit or traditions of men." {Con- 
fession of Faith, 1, vi.) [See Ps. xix. 7 ; Rom. x. 8 ; 
Ps. xix. 105, 130 ; 1 Cor. ii. 5 ; 1 Tim. iv. 7 ; 2 Tim. 
iii. 15 ; Rev. xxii. 18.] The Scriptures are the only 
rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy God. 
We are not to rely on natural reason, for it is utterly 
unable, as we have seen, to give the smallest discovery 
of Christ, the Mediator of the new covenant (1 Cor. ii. 
14), who is the only way of salvation for lost sinners. 
(John xiv. 6.) Neither are we to depend on what 
some call the " inner light," for whatever light may be 



24 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



in men without the word is but darkness. [See Luke 
xvi. 29, 31; Isa. viii. 20; Acts iv. 12; 1 John iv. 1, 6.] 

THE SCRIPTURES THEIR OWN INTERPRETER. 

They are plain. (Rom. x. 8 ; Ps. cxix. 105, 130.) 
All traditions are to be examined by the Scriptures. 
(Isa. viii. 20.) Paul commends the Bereans, "because 
they searched the Scriptures daily whether these things 
were so." (Acts xviii. 12.) And he commanded the 
Galatians to reject all teaching opposed to the truth 
they had already received. (Gal. i. 8.) 

HOW SHOTTED THE SCRIPTURES RE STUDIED? 

[See John v. 39 ; Col. iii. 16.] I. With reverence, re- 
membering that in every line God is speaking to us. 
II. With seriousness, remembering that it is a matter 
of life or death to us. III. With affection. (Ps. cxix. 
97 ; xix. 10 ; Luke xxiv. 32.) IV. With prayer, that 
the Spirit who wrote the word may make it profitable 
to us. V. With high appreciation of the truth. (Job 
xxiii. 12.) VI. With faith, getting our hearts wrought 
to a firm belief of them. (Luke xvi. 31 ; 1 John ii. 14 ; 
2 Thess. ii. 13.) VII. With a desire to be sanctified 
through the truth. It is not only a light to our eyes 
to improve our sight, but also to our feet to improve 
our walk. (Ps. lxxxvi. 11 ; cxix. 105.) VIII. With 
thankfulness. (2 Pet. i. 18.) IX. With adoration of 
God's grace if we can say with David, " Thy word 
hath quickened me." (Ps. cxix. 50.) 

Sir Walter Scott, in his final sickness, said to Lockhart, his 
son-in-law, " Bring me the book." " What book ?" said Lock- 
hart. " Can ypu ask?" said the expiring genius. "There ia 
but one — the Bible." 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 25 



Patrick Henry, the distinguished Virginia statesman and 
orator, a little before his death remarked to a friend, who 
found him reading his Bible, "Here is a book worth more 
than all other books which ever were printed, yet it is my 
misfortune never to have, till lately, found time to read it 
with proper attention and feeling." 

Question 3. — What do the Scriptures principally 
teach t 

Answer. — The Scriptures principally teach what man 
is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires 
of man. 

This answer consists of two parts. 

JT. WHAT MAN IS TO BELIEVE CONCERNING GOD. 

Faith is a dependence on the veracity of another or 
belief on testimony. In Scripture the testimony which 
is the ground of faith means generally the divine tes- 
timony announced either by God himself or by his ac- 
credited messengers. (John iii. 33 ; Heb. xi. 7.) Faith 
may be dead if it be merely in the understanding, 
admitting facts as true, but not realizing their bearing 
upon ourselves. (James ii. 19.) True faith is the sub- 
stance (or realizing) of things hoped for, the evidence 
(or sure persuasion) of things not seen. (Heb. xi. 1.) 
If genuine, it will work by love (Gal. v. 6), yielding 
the fruits of a holy life and conversation. (Matt. vii. 
20 ; James ii. 26.) 

Observe: (1) It is necessary that we have a faith 
concerning God. (Heb. xi. 6 ; Rom. x. 14.) (2) Only 
in the Scriptures have we the revelation of God which 
we need. (Ps. Iviii. 11 ; John i. 18 ; Rom. i. 20.) (3) 
We are to believe what the Scriptures reveal concern- 
ing God. (John xvii. 3 ; xx. 21 ; Acts xxiv. 14 ; Prov. 



26 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

ix. 10 ; ii. 1-5 ; Deut. xxxi. 12.) That there are diffi- 
culties in the Bible cannot be denied. These diffi- 
culties are a trial of man's faith, like our Lord him- 
self in the state of humiliation and suffering, who to 
some was precious, but to others a stone of stumbling 
and a rock of offence. They call for docility and 
humble submission to divine authority ; and wherever 
these tempers are, revelation will be cordially received. 

The following lines were found upon a blank page in Lord 
Byron's Bible : 

" Within this awful volume lies 
The mystery of mysteries. 
Oh happiest they of human race, 
To whom our God has given grace 
To hear, to read, to fear, to pray, 
To lift the latch and force the way ! 
But better had they ne'er been born 
Who read to doubt or read to scorn." 

FAITH AND PRACTICE CONNECTED. 

There is a most intimate connection between truth 
and duty. Hence, belief concerning God is blended 
with corresponding obedience in the answer before 
us. 

II. WHAT DUTY GOD HE QUIRES OF MAN. 

By the " duty " here designated is to be understood 
that which is God's due, or that which we owe to God, 
and are bound to do, with the powers we possess and 
in the various relations we sustain. (Job xxviii. 28 ; 
Mic. vi. 8 ; Luke x. 27.) As we have already seen, 
it is not enough to believe the truth revealed if we do 
not the duty required. (Josh. i. 7.) " Faith without 



NOTES OIST THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 27 



works is dead." (James ii. 26.) That they which 
believe in God might be careful to maintain good 
works. (Titus iii. 8.) Neither is it enough to do 
the duty required, though we do not believe the truth 
revealed, for " he that believeth not God hath made 
him a liar." (1 John v. 10.) Our practice is to be 
regulated by the requirements of the Scriptures. 

ORDER OF STATEMENT. 

It will be observed that faith is here made the 
foundation of our obedience, and not obedience the 
foundation of our faith. (Titus iii. 8.) In the cove- 
nant of works, which was made with man in his 
inuocency, doing or perfect obedience to the law was 
the basis of the promised privilege of life. " The man 
which doeth these things shall live by them." (Rom. 
x. 5.) But this order is inverted in the covenant of 
grace, or under the gospel revelation. The promise is 
now to be believed, and the promised privilege — namely, 
life — must be freely received, and upon this follows our 
obedience to the law from gratitude and love. (Jer. 
xxxi. 18, 19 ; Ps. xlv. 11 ; Rom. xvi. 26.) 

"PRINCIPALLY TEACH." 

The Bible contains a good deal of biography and 
history and many genealogies, and none of it is without 
its use. But the principal or most important parts of it 
are those which teach us what to believe and what to do. 
If men were uninformed in regard to some of the 
other parts of Scripture, they might still understand 
the revealed parts of salvation ; and when real Chris- 
tians differ, as they often do, about other things, the 



28 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



difference is about the unessentials of religion. (See 
John xx. 31 ; 2 Tim. i. 13 ; 1 Cor. vii. 12, 13 ; Ps. 
cxix. 105.) 

Amidst the great variety of books which Sir Isaac Newton 
had constantly before him, that which he studied with the 
greatest application was the Bible. 

" I never knew happiness " (said Wilberforce a 1 ittle before his 
death) "till I found Christ as a Saviour. Read the Bible! 
Let no religious book take its place. Through all my per- 
plexities and distresses I never read any other book, and I 
never knew the want of any other. It has been my hourly 
study, and all my knowledge of the doctrines and all my ac- 
quaintance with the experience and realities of religion have 
been derived from the Bible only." 

"My practice, since I was thirty years of age," said Presi- 
dent John Quincy Adams to a friend, " has been to read the 
Bible the first thing I do every morning. This practice I have 
followed, with but few interruptions, for fifty years." 

Question 4. — What is God * 

Answer. — God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and un- 
changeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, 
goodness, and truth. 

A SPIRIT. 

A spirit is a being that has none of the properties 
of matter. " God is a Spirit, and they that worship 
him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 
iv. 24; Job x. 4 ; 1 Tim. vi. 16.) The angels are 
spirits. (Ps. civ. 4; Heb. i. 14.) So are the souls of 
men. (Zech. xii. 1 ; Eccles. xii. 7.) But God is "the 
Father of spirits." (Heb. xii. 9.) As God is a Spirit, 
it is absolutely unlawful and idolatrous to form any 
external image of him with the hand or any internal 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 29 



imaginary idea of him in the fancy. (Deut. iv. 12, 15 ; 
Rom. i. 23.) 

As a missionary in India was catechising the children of one 
of the schools, a Brahmin interrupted him by saying that the 
spirit of man and the Spirit of God were one. In order to 
show him the absurdity of such a declaration, the missionary 
called upon the boys to refute it by stating the difference be- 
tween the spirit of man and the Spirit of God. They readily 
gave the following answers: "The spirit of man is created — 
God is its Creator ; the spirit of man is full of sin — God is a 
pure Spirit; the spirit of man is subject to grief — God is in- 
finitely blessed and incapable of suffering. These two spirits, 
therefore," replied the boys, "can never be one." 

INFINITE. 

To be infinite is to be without m?asure, bounds or 
limits. Thus God differs from all created beings, 
which are finite. He is infinite in his being and per- 
fections. (Job xi..7; xxxvi. 26; Ps. cxlv. 3.) He is 
everywhere present. (1 Kings viii. 27 ; Ps. cxxxix. 7.) 
As God is infinite in his glorious perfections, let us 
adore where we cannot comprehend. (Rom. xi. 33 ; Isa. 
vi. 3 ; Job xi. 7.) Let us be careful also not to limit 
the Holy One of Israel (Ps. lxxviii. 41) by confining 
him within the narrow compass of our reason. 

The teacher of a Sabbath-school once asked his class, 
"Where is God?" One of the elder boys immediately an- 
swered, "In heaven." The teacher, not satisfied with this 
reply, again repeated the inquiry, when a lad younger than 
the other answered, "Everywhere." Kequiring still further 
explanation, the question was again put, " Where is God ?" 
when a third boy called out, " God is here." The views of 
the teacher were now met, and he endeavored to impress upon 
the minds of the children the important truth that God is in 
heaven — God is everywhere — God is here. 



30 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



ETERNAL. 

God lias always existed and always shall exist. 
" From everlasting to everlasting thou art God." (Ps. 
xc. 2, 4 ; Job x. 5 ; Ps. cii. 12, 27 ; 2 Pet. iii. 8 ; 1 Tim. 
vi. 16; Heb. i. 8.) 

One of the deaf and dumb pupils in the institution of Paris 
being desired to express his idea of the eternity of the Deity, 
replied, " It is duration, without beginning or end ; existence, 
without bound or dimension ; present, without past or future. 
His eternity is youth, without infancy or old age; life, without 
birth or death ; to-day, without yesterday or to-morrow." 

UN CHANGE A BEE. 

I am Jehovah and change not. (Mai. iii. 6.) He is 
the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, 
neither shadow of turning. (James i. 17.) In such 
passages as Gen. vi. 6 ; 1 Sam. xv. 11, in which God is 
represented as having changed, he accommodates his 
language to our conceptions — the change of his mind 
signifies merely a change of dispensation. So, when 
God is said to love a person whom .he once hated, or 
to hate One whom he once loved, he no more changes 
than the sun does when the different parts of the earth 
successively come into his light and retire into dark- 
ness. The change is in themselves. God's immuta- 
bility ensures the fulfilment of his promises (Isa. liv. 
10) and the execution of his threatenings. He " will 
by no means clear the guilty." (Ex. xxxiv. 7.) 

BEING. 

" Thou art the same." (Ps. cii. 27.) At every point 
of God's existence it may be said to him, " Thou art." 
His name, " I am " (John viii. 58), implies that in his 
being ; the distinctions of past, present ; and to come ; 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 31 



have no place. (Ex. iii. 14 ; 1 Cor. viii. 6 ; 1 Tim. vi. 
16 ; 2 Pet. iii. 8.) 

wisdom:. 

The wisdom of God consists not only in knowledge, 
but in the right use of his boundless stores of know- 
ledge. He knows all things, and he turns his know- 
ledge to the best account. (Job ix. 4 ; xxxiv. 21, 34 ; 
1 Tim. i. 17 ; Ps. cxlvii. 5 ; cxxxix. 1 ; Heb. iv. 13 ; 
Ps. civ. 24; 1 Cor. ii. 6, 7; Eph. iii. 10; Isa. xl. 13, 14; 
xlvi. 10; Acts iv. 28.) 

POWER. 

By this is meant God's ability to do what he desires . ' 
or purposes to do. " If I speak of strength, lo, he is 
strong." (Job ix. 19.) "I am the Almighty God." 
(Gen. xvii. 1.) [See Dan. iv. 35 ; Ps. lxxv. 5, 7 ; Isa. 
xlvi. 10 ; Rev. xix. 16 ; Ps. viii. 3.] 

HOLINESS. 

This is that essential uprightness or integrity of the 
nature of God by which he infinitely delights in his 
own purity and in everything that is pure, and so 
agreeable to his will, and has a perfect hatred and 
abhorrence of everything contrary to it. (Hab. i. 13 ; 
Jer. xliv. 4.) " Glorious in holiness." (Ex. xv. 11.) 
" Holy and reverend is his name." (Ps. cxi. 9.) " The 
Holy One." (Job vi. 1.0.) [See also Isa. vi. 3 ; Ps. 
xxx. 4 ; 1 Pet. i. 16.] 

JUSTICE. 

The justice of God is the rectitude of his nature, by 
which he is moved to the doing of that which is right- 
eous and equal. (Prov. xxiv. 12.) " Just and right is 
he." (Deut. xxxii. 4.) " He is excellent in power and 



32 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

in judgment." (Job xxxvii. 23.) " Justice and judg- 
ment are the habitation of thy throne." (Ps. lxxxix. 
14.) God cannot but be just. His holiness will not 
suffer him to do anything but what is righteous. (Heb. 
i. 9.) [See also Ps. cxlv. 17 ; xcii. 15 ; xi. 7.] 

GOODNESS. 

The goodness of God is his essential property, by 
which he is altogether good in himself and the Author 
of all good. "Thou art good and doest good." (Ps. 
cxix. 68.) He is " the Lord, the Lord God, merciful 
and gracious." (Ex. xxxiv. 6.) He "is good to all, 
and his tender mercies are over all his works." (Ps. 
cxlv. 9.) He is in a special manner good to his people. 
" Truly God is good to Israel. (Ps. lxxiii. 1.) [See Ps. 
xxxiv. 8.] 

As a missionary in the South Sea Islands was one day read- 
ing the sixteenth verse of the third chapter of John to the 
natives, one of them exclaimed, "Can that be true? God 
love the world when the world not love him ! God so love 
the world as to give his Son to die that man might not die ! 
Can that be true?" When the missionary told him it toas 
true, he burst into tears, retired to meditate in private on the 
great love of God which had that day touched his soul. 

TMUTH. 

This is that essential perfection of God's nature by 
which he cannot but fulfill and accomplish whatever 
he has spoken, or do as he has said. (Num. xxiii. 19.) 
" A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right 
is he." (Deut. xxxii. 4.) " For thy mercy is great 
unto the heavens and thy truth unto the clouds." (Ps. 
lvii. 10.) Plenteous in truth. (Ps. cxxxvi. 15. See 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 33 



also 1 Kings viii. 56 ; Tit. i. 2 ; 1 Sam. xv. 29 ; Ps. 
cxvii. 2 ; Heb. x. 23 ; vi. 18.) 

The following account of the way in which the answer, just 
considered, was prepared, is full of interest : 

The committee to which was referred the question, What is 
God f all felt the unapproachable sublimity of the divine idea 
suggested by these words, but who could venture to give it ex- 
pression in human language ? All shrank from the sacred 
task in awe-struck, reverential fear. At length it was resolved, 
as an expression of the committee's deep humility, that the 
youngest member should first make the attempt. He con- 
sented, but begged that the brethren would first unite with 
him in prayer for divine enlightenment. Then, in slow and 
solemn accents, he thus began his prayer : " O God, thou art a 
Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in thy being, wisdom, 
power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth." When he ceased, 
the first sentence of his prayer was immediately written down 
and adopted as the most perfect answer that could be con- 
ceived ; as, indeed, in a very sacred sense, God's own answer 
descriptive of himself. The youngest member of that com- 
mittee was George Gillespie — the man, therefore, who was 
thus guided to frame this marvellous answer. 

Question 5. — Are there more Gods than one f 
Answer. — There is but one only, the living and true 
God. 

TEACHING OF SCRIPTURE. 

The Scriptures plainly teach that there is but one 
God. (Deut. vi. 4 ; 1 Cor. viii. 5, 6 ; Mark xii. 29, 
32.) He is the " only God." (Deut. iv. 39 ; Isa xlv. 
21 ; xlvi. 9. See also 1 Kings xviii. 39 ; Ps. xcv. 3 ; 
xcvi. 5 ; Isa xxxvii. 16.) 

EVIDENCE FROM REASON. 

Hoiv is it evident from reason that there is but one 
Godf 

3 



34 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



1. There can be but one First Cause, that has its 
being of itself, and on which all other beings depend- 
Hence there can be but one God, because there is but 
one First Cause. 

2. Because God is infinite, and there cannot be more 
than one infinite being, forasmuch as one infinite being 
sets bounds and limits to all other beings, and nothing 
that is bounded and limited can be infinite. (See Jer. 
xxiii. 24.). The argument has been thus stated : " One 
infinite and perfect Being absolutely and necessarily 
precludes a second. If two beings be supposed of 
equal or similar attributes, neither can be infinite or 
perfect, because it is manifest that if to either were 
given the powers and prerogatives of the other, there 
would be an increase of what was possessed before. 
But what is infinite is perfect, and therefore, as God 
is infinite and perfect (see on Question 4), there is and 
can be but one God." 

3. Because there could not be a uniform governing 
of all things in the world to one certain end if the 
infinitely wise Governor, who is at the helm, were not 
one only. If there were two Omnipotents, then we 
must always suppose a contest between these two. 
(Isa. xliv. 6 ; Job ix. 12.) Throughout its whole extent 
our globe exhibits proof of its having been formed by 
the same almighty hand. Everywhere the dry land is 
composed of the same materials, and the sea has the 
same properties. Throughout the entire visible uni- 
verse, indeed, we behold a unity and simplicity of de- 
sign and end which most powerfully impress the con- 
viction that one, and but one, glorious Being created it 
at first, and upholds and governs it continually. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 35 



TITE T/rVIXG GOD. 

Why is God said to be the " living " God f Not 
only in contrast with the gods whom the heathen wor- 
ship, and which are without life and without under- 
standing, but because he has life essentially in him- 
self (John v. 26) ; is the great Author and Preserver 
of the life of every living creature ; and gave existence 
to all things. (Acts. xvii. 28 ; Jer. x. 18, 20 ; Gen. xvii. 
1 ; 1 Tim. vi. 13.) 

Tin: TRITE GOD. 
Why is God called the " true " God t Because all 
other beings that are called and regarded as gods are 
not really such ; they are false gods : those who worship 
them are deceived. (Jer. x. 10, 11, 15; John xvii. 3; 
Ps. xcvi. 5.) 

THE LIVING AND TRUE GOD. 

Why are " living " and " true " put together in the 
answer f 

Because they are inseparably conjoined in the in- 
finitely perfect nature of God. He who is the living 
God is the only true God ; and the true God the only 
living God. (1 Thess. i. 9.) 

TRACTICAI IESSONS. 

From the truth that there is but one God the fol- 
lowing things are evident: 

1. There can be but one true religion in the world. 
" One Lord, one faith." (Eph. iv. 5.) 

2. We should present our bodies a living sacrifice, 
holy, acceptable to God, which is our reasonable ser- 
vice. (B-om. xii. 1.) 



36 NOTES ON THE SHOKTER CATECHISM. 



3. We should take heed of setting up more gods 
than one. (Ps. xvi. 4 ; 2 Tim. iii. 4 ; Eph. v. 5.) 

4. From gratitude that we possess a knowledge of 
the only true God ; we should pity and pray for the 
heathen who are living in idolatry, and try to send 
them the Bible. 

5. As God is one, they who serve him should be 
one. This is what Christ prayed so earnestly for. 
(John xvii. 21. See also Acts iv. 32 ; Ps. cxxxiii. 1.) 

6. We should strive for assurance that God is ours. 
What comfort is it to know that there is a God, and 
that he is the only God, unless he be our God ? (Ps. 
xlviii. 14.) 

The Rev. Narayan Sheshadri, the eloquent converted Brah- 
min who visited America in 1873, says that the study of the 
wonderful announcement made in the first words of the Bible, 
of one personal Creator of the universe, existing from all eter- 
nity, was one of the chief means of turning him from idol- 
atry. The same declaration has been made by many others 
who have been brought from heathen darkness to the light of 
faith in the One Living and True God. 

Question 6. — Sow many persons are there in the 
Godhead t 

Answer. — There are three persons in the Godhead; 
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these 
three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power 
and glory. 

THE GODHEAD. 

By " the Godhead " is meant the divine nature and 
essence. God is one, yet there are three distinct per- 
sons subsisting in one Godhead. This is a sacred mys- 
tery which the light of reason could never have disco v- 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 37 



ered. The three Persons in the blessed Trinity are 
distinguished, but not divided — three subsistences, 
but one essence. This is entirely a doctrine of reve- 
lation. 

An old writer ventures to shadow the doctrine by 
this similitude : " In the body of the sun there is the 
substance of the sun, the beams and the heat; the 
beams are begotten of the sun, the heat proceeds both 
from the sun and the beams, but these three, though 
different, are not divided ; they all three make one sun. 
So in the blessed Trinity the Son is begotten of the 
Father, the Holy Ghost proceeds from both, yet 
though they are three distinct Persons there is but 
one God." 

AN ESSENTIAL DOCTRINE. 

That this doctrine of the Trinity is a fundamental 
article is beyond all doubt, because without the know- 
ledge and belief of the Trinity of Persons we would 
remain ignorant of the love of the Father, the merit 
of the Son and the sanctifying influences of the Holy 
Ghost, in the purchase and application of redemption, 
without which there could be no salvation. u This is 
life eternal, that they might know thee the only true 
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 
xvii. 3. See also John xiv. 17 ; i. 18 ; 1 John ii. 23 ; 
v. 20 ; Kom. viii. 9 ; x. 14.) 

PROOF FROM SCRIPTURE. 

How can the Trinity of Persons be proved from the 
Scriptures ? 

By many express declarations. " In the beginning, 
Elohim" — literally Gods — "created the heavens and 



38 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

the earth." (Gen. i. 1.) Here God speaks of himself in 
the plural number. " The Spirit of God moved upon 
the face of the waters." (Gen. i. 2.) Here is a dis- 
tinct recognition of the First and Third Persons of the 
Trinity. By the Word of the Lord, or Jehovah, were 
the heavens made, and all the host of them by the 
breath, or spirit, of his mouth. (Ps.* xxxiii. 6.) Here 
the plurality already referred to is expressly limited to 
three Persons — Jehovah, the Word and the Spirit, all 
concurring in the creation of all things : accordingly, 
we are told that all things were made by the Word 
(John i. 3), and that the Spirit garnished the heavens. 
(Job xxvi. 13.) The same truth is also evident from 
Isa. lxiii. 7, 9, 10, where we read of the loving-kindness 
of Jehovah, of the Angel of his presence saving them, 
and of their vexing his Holy Spirit. There are sev- 
eral passages of the Old Testament in which God 
speaks of himself as more than one. (Gen. i. 26 ; iii. 
22 ; Isa. vi. 8 ; Gen. xi. 7.) The benediction of Aaron 
(Num. vi. 24-26), in which there is a threefold repeti- 
tion of the name Jehovah, corresponds with the Chris- 
tian benediction. (2 Cor. xiii. 14.) The same construc- 
tion may be put on the threefold ascription of holiness 
to God by the seraphim, as recorded in Isa. vi. 3. 

The New Testament Scriptures furnish the clearest 
and most satisfactory testimony. (Matt, xxviii. 19 ; 
John xiv. 26 ; xv. 26 ; 1 John v. 7 ; Titus iii. 5, 6 ; 
Eph. ii. 18; 2 Cor. xiii. 14; Gal. iv. 6. See also 
Phil. ii. 6 ; Prov. viii. 23 ; Heb. i. 3 ; Col. ii. 9 ; 
John i. 1 ; 1 Tim. iii. 16 ; Deut. vi. 5 ; compared with 
Matt. xxii. 37 ; John x. 30 ; Rev. i. 8 ; Col. i. 16 ; 
Matt. ix. 2 ; John xiv. 1-3 ; Heb. i. 6 ; John xvi. 13 ; 



NOTES ON THE SHOKTEK CATECHISM. 39 

1 Cor. xii. 5, 6 ; Matt. xii. 32 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 26 ; Rom. 
viii. 11 ; 1 Cor. vi. 19.) 

TII II EIJ PERSONS. 

As already stated, there is only one essence of the 
Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, but in this one 
essence there is .a threefold distinction, which we ex- 
press by saying that there are three Persons. These 
Persons are distinguished from each other by their 
personal properties. Divine perfections are common to 
them all — eternity, immutability, power, wisdom and 
goodness — but a personal property is something pecu- 
liar to each, something which may be affirmed of one, 
but cannot be affirmed of the other two. It is the 
personal property of the Father to beget the Son. (Ps. 
ii. 7 ; Heb. i. 5, 8.) It is the personal property of the 
Son to be begotten of the Father. (John i. 14.) It is 
the personal property of the Holy Ghost to proceed 
from the Father and the Son. (John xv. 26.) 

The Persons of the Trinity are further distinguished 
by their operations. We cannot now understand how, 
the nature being one, acts are performed by one Person 
which cannot be ascribed to another, but the fact is so 
stated in the Scriptures, and we are bound to receive 
their testimony. (See John v. 17, 19 ; Isa. xlviii. 16.) 

The Father is called the first Person, the Son the 
second, and the Holy Ghost the third. This is the 
order of their subsistence, and it is pointed out by their 
internal relations, but it does not imply the priority 
of one to another in time or in dignity. The three 
Persons are co-eternal and co-equal, so that in 
all things the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in 



40 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



Unity is to be worshiped. In proof of the divinity 
of the respective Persons, see Eph. iv. 6 ; 1 Cor. viii. 
6 ; xv. 24 ; John i. 1 ; Rom. ix. 5 ; John viii. 58 ; xxi. 
17 ; Matt, xviii. 20 ; Heb. i. 3 ; 1 Cor. i. 2 ; Matt, 
xxviii. 19 ; Acts v. 3, 4 ; Ps. cxxxix. 7 ; John xiv. 
17 ; 1 Cor. ii. 10 ; John iii. 5 ; xv. 26 ; Rom. xv. 16. 

The Kev. Thomas Doolittle says : " May I not, for my ad- 
monition, make use of what I have read of Augustine, who, as 
he was walking by the seaside and meditating on the Trinity, 
saw a child pouring the water of the sea into a shell having a 
hole in the midst thereof, and demanded of the child what he 
was doing. The child said, ' I am putting all the sea into this 
shell.' Augustine answered, c Thou playest the child ; can a 
shell, thinkest thou, comprehend all this sea ?' The child re- 
plied, 1 So, good sir, do you who would by reason comprehend 
the Trinity.' The child vanished. Augustine perceived it 
was an angel, and was instructed by it that this doctrine was 
above the reach of reason." 

Question 7. — What are the decrees of God t 
Answer. — The decrees of God are his eternal purpose 
according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his 
own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to 
pass. 

No one will deny that there are divine decrees who 
believes that God is an intelligent being, and considers 
what this character implies. An intelligent being is 
one who knows and judges, who purposes ends and 
devises means, who acts from design, conceives a plan, 
and then proceeds to execute it. When various plans 
are laid before us, and we prefer one to the rest, this 
act of our minds is a decree or purpose by which our 
subsequent conduct is regulated. The works of God, 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 41 

in like manner, necessarily presuppose a decree, as the 
plan of which they are the development. It will cer- 
tainly be admitted that God intended to create the 
world before he actually created it ; that he intend- 
ed to make man before he' fashioned his body and 
breathed the breath of life into his nostrils ; that he 
intended to govern the world which he had made ac- 
cording to certain laws. And it will be further admit- 
ted that when he resolved to create the world and to 
make man, and to establish laws physical and moral, 
he had some ultimate object in view. Having con- 
structed a machine and set it in motion, he knew 
what would be the result, and this result was the true 
reason, or the final cause, why the machine was con- 
structed. This intention of the Deity is his decree. 
In other words, the decree of God is his will, in which 
the exertions of his power and the manifestations of 
his other perfections originated. 

" PURPOSE." 

Though we speak properly of the " decrees " of God, 
inasmuch as they relate to many things, yet are we to 
regard his decreeing act as one simple act only, because 
of the perfect oneness or simplicity of his nature, on 
account of which he could not but decree all things at 
once, and because all things are naked and opened 
unto his omniscient eye (Heb. iv. 13), and because 
also of his immutability. (Mai. iii. 6.) 

ARGUMENT FROM FOREKNOWLEDGE. 

That God foreknew all things we must believe, or 
we cannot believe in the perfection of his nature. But 
nothing can be foreknown whilst it remains uncertain. 



42 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



Future events, then, to be foreknown, must be perfect- 
ly certain. Now, before the events took place — innu- 
merable ages before they took place — nothing could 
make their occurrence perfectly certain but the deter- 
mination of God. 

PROOF FROM SCRIPTURE. 

The Scriptures make mention of the decrees of God 
in many passages and in a variety of terms. (See Eph. 
i. 9 11 ; Acts ii. 23 ; iv. 27, 28 ; xxvii. 23, 24 ; Kom. 
viii. 29 ; Prov. xvi. 33.) 

"ETERNAL PURPOSE." 

When an apostle says, " Known unto God are all 
his works from the beginning of the world " (Acts xv. 
18), he virtually teaches that his decrees are eter- 
nal, for his words import that at the commencement 
of time the plan was arranged according to which his 
works were to be executed. If they had not been de- 
termined upon, they could not have been foreknown as 
certain. Temporal decrees suppose the knowledge of 
the Deity to be limited, and that he is receiving acces- 
sions to it in the progress of time. (See Eph. i. 4 ; 2 
Tim. i. 9 ; Rom. xi. 33 ; 1 Cor. ii. 7.) 

"THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL." 

This implies that the decrees of God are infinitely 
wise, as what is done with counsel is said, according to 
human modes of speaking, to be done advisedly, in 
opposition to its being done rashly or with precipita- 
tion. (See Eph. i. 11 ; Matt. xi. 26 ; Heb. vi. 17 ; Ps. 
cxv. 2 ; Dan iv. 35 ; Isa. xlvi. 10.) 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 43 



FOR BZIS OWN GLORY. 

Eph. i. 12; Rev. iv. 11; Acts xv. 18, in connection 
with Ps. civ. 31 ; Prov. xvi. 4 ; Rom. ix. 22, 23. 

FOREORDAINED WHATSOEVER COMES TO PASS. 

Ps. xxxi. 15 ; Prov. xvi. 33 ; xix. 21. The decrees 
of God extend to things naturally and morally good 
effectively, because he is the Author and efficient cause 
of all good. (Phil. ii. 13.) They extend to things moral- 
ly evil permissively and direetively only, yet God over- 
rules them for good, contrary to the intention both of 
the work and worker. (Ps. lxxvi. 10. See Gen. xlv. 
5-8 and 1. 20.) 

" There is " (says an old and able writer) " a twofold 
will of God — the will of God's precept and of his 
decree. While the wicked resist the will of God's 
precept, they fulfill the will of his permissive decree. 
Judas betrays Christ — Pilate condemns him — the 
soldiers crucify him ; while they resisted the will of 
God's precept, they fulfilled the will of his permissive 
decree. (Acts iv. 22.) Such as are wicked God com- 
mands one thing, they do quite the contrary ; to keep 
the Sabbath, they profane it ; while they disobey his 
command, they fulfill his permissive decree. If a man 
sets up two nets, one of silk, the other of iron, the silken 
net may be broken, not the iron : God's commands are 
the silken net. While men break the silken net of 
God's command, they are taken in the iron net of his 
decree, his decree to permit their sin, and to punish 
them for their sin permitted." (See James i. 13, 17 ; 1 
John i. 5 ; Eccl. vii. 29.) 



44 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED— MEANS NOT S UJ'EJl- 
SEDED. 

The divine decrees do not, as some allege, render the 
use of means unnecessary. God had decreed to pre- 
serve Paul and those who were with him in the ship 
(Acts xxvii. 24), yet lawful means were to be used ; the 
sailors must not get leave to flee out of the ship, other- 
wise the rest could not be saved (verse 31). No man 
argues thus : " God hath decreed how long I shall live, 
therefore I will not use means to preserve my life — not 
eat and drink." God has decreed the time of our 
lives in the use of means. So has he decreed our sal- 
vation in the use of means, and as a man that refuses 
food murders himself, so he that refuses to work out 
his salvation destroys himself. The means are decreed 
as well as the end. " Prepared unto glory " (Rom. ix. 
23) ; " Chosen you to salvation through sanctification 
of the Spirit and belief of the truth." (2 Thess. ii. 
13.) An old writer well says : " Hast thou a heart to 
pray to God ? It is a sign no decree of wrath hath 
passed against thee." 

LIBERTY OF WILE NOT VIOLATED. 

Neither do the decrees of God destroy the liberty 
of man's will or the contingency of second causes. 
(See Matt. xvii. 12.) Voluntary agents may act freely, 
and yet act in exact accordance with what is, upon the 
whole, God's pleasure. In the execution of his de- 
crees he does not change the nature of things, but- 
suffers rational agents to act freely and voluntarily, 
as being under no more restraint or compulsion than 
though there had been no such decree. For example, 



NOTES ON THE SHOKTER CATECHISM. 45 



what Pilate and the Jews did when they they cruci- 
fied the Lord of glory was with full freedom of their 
own will, and yet they did nothing but what God's 
hand and counsel determined before to be done. (Acts 
iv. 27, 28.) 

COMFORT FROM THE DOCTRINE. 

The immutability of God's decrees affords comfort. 
1. In relation to his providence towards his Church. 
The troubling of his Church is like the angel's troub- 
ling the water. (John v. 4 ; Dan. xii. 6.) The wheels 
in a watch move opposite to one another, but they all 
carry on the motion of the watch ; so the wheels of 
Providence often move contrary to our desires, but 
still they carry on God's unchangeable purpose con- 
cerning his Church. (Ps. xlvi. 5.) 2. In relation to 
the salvation of the godly. (2 Tim. ii. 19. See also 
Rev. iii. 5 ; John xiii. 1.) 

GOD'S COUNSELS UNFATHOMABLE. 

Can we fathom God's counsels ? No, for his judg- 
ments are a great deep. (Ps. xxxvi. 6.) Ought we not 
therefore to acquiesce in them ? Yes. (See 2 Sam. xv. 
26.) May we question God's proceedings ? No, for his 
thoughts are above our thoughts. (Isa. lv. 9.) 

The following conversation between Mr. Wesley and Mr Si- 
meon is related by Dr. Dealtry in his sermon on the occasion 
of the death of the latter : 

" Pray, sir," said Mr. Simeon, " do you feel yourself to be a de- 
praved creature — so depraved that you would never have thought 
of turning to God if God had not first put it into your heart?" 

" Yes," says the veteran Wesley, " I do indeed." 

" And do you utterly despair of recommending yourself to 



46 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



God by anything that you can do, and look for salvation solely 
through the blood and righteousness of Christ ?" 
" Yes, solely through Christ." 

" But, sir, supposing you were first saved by Christ ; are you 
not, somehow or other, to save yourself afterward by your 
own works ?" 

" No ; I must be saved by Christ from first to last." 

" Allowing, then, that you were first turned by the grace of 
God, are you not in some way or other to keep yourself by 
your own power ?" 

" No." 

" What, then ! are you to be upheld every hour and every 
moment by God, as much as an infant in its mother's arms ?" 
Yes, altogether." 

"And is all your hope in the grace and mercy of God to 
preserve you unto his heavenly kingdom ?" 

" Yes j I have no hope but in him." 

" Then, sir, with your leave, I will put up my dagger again ; 
for this is all my Calvinism, this is my election, my justifica- 
tion by faith, my final perseverance ; it is, in substance, all that 
I hold, and as I hold 

Question. 8. — How doth God execute his decrees? 

Answer. — God executeth his decrees in the works of 
creation and providence. 

What is it for God to execute his decrees ? God 
executes his decrees when he does what he eternally 
purposed to do — when he brings to pass what he had 
before ordained should be. 

All God's decrees shall be executed. (Isa. xiv. 24 ; 
xiv. 27; xlvi. 10; Dan. iv. 35.) 

creation: 

How do we know that God executed his decrees in 
the work of creation? (Rev. iv. 11. See Heb. i. 10; 
Prov. viii. 22 ; 2 Pet. i. 3.) 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 47 
PROVIDENCE. 

How do we know that God executes his decrees in 
the works of providence ? " The Lord hath prepared 
his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over 
all." (Ps. ciii. 19 ; xxxiii. 18 ; cxxxix. 2 ; xciv. 9 ; 
Isa. lix. 1 ; 1 Cor. iii. 7.) It is sometimes said that 
though God's providence may rule in great things, 
small events must be beneath his notice. Our Lord 
expressly contradicts such a notion. (Matt. x. 29, 30.) 
Besides, the smallest link in the chain is as necessary 
as the greatest ; its failure would disarrange and dis- 
locate the whole. 

Let it be observed that whilst God executes the 
work of creation entirely without means, by the word 
of his power, he executes the work of providence, or- 
dinarily, in the use of them. It should also be noted, 
that whatever use God may make of second causes in 
the execution of his decrees, yet they are merely in- 
struments in his overruling hand to bring about his 
glorious designs ; they are his servants, and must do all 
his pleasure. (Acts iv. 27, 28. See on Question 11, 
Gen. i. 1 ; Ex. xx. 11 : John i. 1, 2, 3 ; Ps. cxlviii. 5.) 
Is not God still working ? " My Father (says Christ) 
worketh hitherto, and I work." (John v. 17. See 
Heb. i. 3 ; Ps. xlvii. 7, 8 ; Isa. lv. 8 ; xlv. 7 ; xl. 22.) 

In relation to the works of God let it be observed — 
1. They are manifold. (Ps. civ. 24.) 2. They are hon- 
orable and glorious. (Ps. cxi. 3.) 3. They are perfect. 
(Deut. xxxii. 4.) 4. They ought to be studied. (Ps. 
cxi. 3 ; xxviii. 5.) 5. They cannot be thoroughly dis- 
covered. (Eccl. iii. 11 : Ps. lxxvii. 19.) 6. All his 
works praise him. (Ps. clxv. 10.) 



48 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



THE GREATEST WOltK. 

To which of the works in which God executes his 
decrees does redemption belong? To the 'providence 
of God, as the most glorious part of it toward men. 

" Redemption ! 'twas creation more sublime ; 
Redemption ! 'twas the labor of the skies ; 
Far more than labor ; it was death in heaven ; 
A truth so strange, 'twere bold to think it true, 
If not far bolder still to disbelieve." 

JPBACTICAE EES SOyS. 

From the doctrine now stated we learn — 1. That in 
God's plans the means as well as the results are em- 
braced, and rendered certain to be employed. 2. That 
we can come to a knowledge of God's decrees only by 
the acts which he performs, and by the events which 
he brings about or suffers to take place. 3. That all 
the promises of God shall be punctually accomplished, 
and not one of them fall to the ground. (Mark xiii. 
31.) 

" Nothing was more remarkable," says the biographer of 
Mr. Newton, " than his constant habit of regarding the hand 
of God in every event, however trivial it might appear to 
others. In walking to his church he would say, ' The way of 
man is not in himself, nor can he conceive what belongs to a 
single step. When I go to St. Mary Woolnoth, it seems the 
same whether I turn down Lathbury, or go through the Old 
Jewry, but the going through one street, and not another, may 
produce an effect of lasting consequence. A man cut down 
my hammock in sport, but had he cut it down half an hour 
later, I had not been here, as the exchange of the crew was 
then making. A man made a smoke on the seashore at the 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 49 



time a ship passed, which was thereby brought to, and after- 
ward brought me to England." 

Question 9. — What is the work of creation? 

Answer. — The work of creation is, God's making all 
things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space 
of six days, and all very good. 

The world must have had a maker — it could not 
make itself. If one should go into a distant country and 
see stately edifices there, he would never imagine that 
these could build themselves, but that that there had 
been some artificer there to raise such goodly structures ; 
so the great fabric of the world could not create itself 
— it must have had some builder or maker. 

DID NOT EXIST FROM ETERNITY. 

There is not the slightest foundation for the opinion 
of some ancient philosophers that the world existed 
from eternity. This supposition is not only contrary 
to Scripture, but to common sense and reason, which 
tell us that what is created, and has a duration by 
succession of time, must have had a beginning. 

PROOF FROM SCRIPTURE. 

That God created the world we know — I. From the 
testimony of Scripture. (Gen. i. 1, etc. ; Ps. xxxiii. 6, 
9. See also Ps. civ., cxxxvi., cxlvi. ; Job xxxviii. and 
xxxix. ; John i. 3.) II. From other considerations, such 
as (1.) The origin of nations, as given by Moses. 
This account could not have been invented by him 
when there were some remembrances of it still in the 
minds of many, which, however, in the course of time 
4 



50 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



became lost. (2.) The novelty of all other histories as 
compared with the antiquity of sacred history. (3.) 
The age of man decreasing shows that there was at 
first a greater strength in nature, and that it has de- 
creased hitherto, not without some first cause. (4.) 
The certain course of time from the beginning of the 
world down to the coming of the Messiah. (5.) The 
constitution and preservation of commonwealths. (6.) 
The order of things in nature, which must of necessity 
have been produced by some intelligent mind supe- 
rior to all things. (7.) The excellency of the mind of 
man and of angels. These intelligent beings have a 
beginning. They must therefore have sprung from 
some intelligent cause. (8.) The natural principles 
and notions which are engraven upon our hearts. (9.) 
The chidings or reproofs of conscience in the ungodly. 
(10.) The ends of all things wisely ordered. (11.) 
Finally, all the other arguments which prove that there 
is a God prove also that the world was created by him. 
III. From philosophical arguments, such as (1.) There 
is in nature no infinite progress of causes and effects, 
otherwise nature would never attain its end. There- 
fore, the world had a beginning. (2.) The world is the 
first and most excellent of all effects. Therefore, it is 
from the first and most excellent cause, which is God. 

God the Father created the world through the Son 
and Holy Ghost. (John i. 3 ; Gen. i. 2 ; Job xxxiii. 
4.) 

OF NOTHING. 

God made the world without any pre-existent mat- 
ter. This is the difference between making and crea- 
tion. In making there is some material to work upon, 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 51 



but in creation there is no pre-existent matter. (See 
Heb. i. 10; Gen. i. 2; 2 Cor. iv. 6 ; Heb. xi. 3.) 

BY THE WOMJD OF HIS POWER. 

The creation of all things out of nothing is an act 
of divine power beyond our conception, because it is 
totally different from the effects which our own power 
or that of other creatures can accomplish. We must, 
as has just been stated, have a subject upon which to 
operate. We must be furnished with materials for our 
work, and then all we can do is to mix or join them 
together, to separate them, to change their position and 
arrange them in anew order. We may compress or 
expand them, but we cannot add a single particle to the 
mass. The description of the work of creation in the 
book of Genesis is sublime, but simple. It was effect- 
ed without means, without labor, by a mere act of 
volition. God " spake, and it was done, he command- 
ed, and it stood fast." (Ps. xxxiii. 6-9 ; Isa. xl. 20 ; 
Heb. xi. 3 ; 2 Pet. iii. 5, 7 ; Isa. xliv. 24.) 

IJST THE SPACE OF SIX HAYS. 

(See Exodus xx. 11.) God could have created all 
things together, in a moment, but he took six days' 
time to work in, and rested on the seventh day. 1. Be- 
cause he designed that the creation of matter should 
be a thing distinct and manifest from the formation of 
the bodies of the world, which were made out of it. 
2. That we might the better apprehend the order of 
the creation, and thus discern his wisdom, goodness 
and power. And, 3. That we might imitate him in 
working but six days of the week, and in resting on the 
seventh. 



52 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



AND JlIjJj VERY GOOD. 

God made everything perfect, according to its kind 
and degree. There was no defect or deformity ; all 
was free from evil under every form. Creation was a 
fair copy, without any blot, written with God's own 
fingers. (Ps. viii. 3.) All the works of the divine 
Hand were severally pronounced by their great Au- 
thor to be very good. (Gen. i. 31.) 

PR A C TICA.JL LESSONS. 

As God is the Creator of the world — 1. We have a 
strong support for our faith. (Ps. xxxiv. 8 ; Isa. lxv. 
18.) 2. We see the evil of sin that has cursed the 
world. (Gen. iii. 17, 18, 19; Rom. v. 12.) 3. We 
should wisely observe the works of creation. (Ps. cvii. 
24 ; civ. 24.) 4. We should obey our Maker. (Acts 
xvii. 28.) The fact that our bodies were made out of 
dust, and that dust out of nothing, should keep down 
pride. (Ps. lxxii. 6.) 

Plato, the Greek philosopher, was convinced of the existence 
of a Deity upon observing that all the world could not make 
so insignificant a creature as a fly. 

Dean Swift (borrowing the idea from Cicero) says that he 
will no more believe that the universe was formed by a fortui- 
tous concourse of atoms than that the accidental jumbling of 
the letters of the alphabet would fall by chance into an ingeni- 
ous and learned treatise of philosophy. 

The hand that built the palace of the sky 
Formed the light wings that decorate a fly ; 
The power that wheels the circling planets round 
Rears every infant floweret on the ground ; 
That bounty which the mightiest beings share 
Feeds the least gnat that gilds the evening air. 

James Montgomery. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 53 



Question 10. — How did God create man? 

Answer. — God created man, male and female, after 
his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, 
with dominion over the creatures. 

■ Man is distinctly affirmed to be a creature of God. 
(Gen. ii. 7. See also Acts xvii. 28.) When the earth 
was prepared by the hand of the Almighty and en- 
riched by his liberality, man was introduced into it as 
his dwelling and placed at the head of its other inhab- 
itants. In vain should God have displayed the wonders 
of his power and wisdom if no being had been raised 
up to contemplate them and to offer up the just tribute 
of praise. 

WHEN JLND HOW CHEATED. 

The creation of man took place on the sixth day, 
and was delayed till that time that the earth might be 
prepared for his reception. (Gen. i. 26, 27.) Two 
things in regard to it deserve particular attention : 1. 
It was marked with unusual solemnity. While on the 
other days nothing is heard but the simple and majes- 
tic command, which is instantly obeyed, " Let there be 
light," " Let the earth bring forth grass," on this occa- 
sion there is something like what we call deliberation 
and consultation — a sort of preparation for the work, as 
if it were of superior importance. 2. The plural in- 
stead of the singular pronoun is used. God said not 
" Let me make man," but " Let us make man after our 
image." In the use of this plural word on this occa- 
sion, there is generally supposed to be a reference to a 
plurality of persons in the Godhead, which some con- 
ceive to be implied in the plural name of God (Elohim), 



54 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

and which is manifestly signified in several other pas- 
sages of the Old Testament, that were quoted in the 
exposition of Question 6. 

MALE AND FEMALE. 

God created man male and female. The sacred text 
informs us that he called them Adam. (Gen. v. 2.) 
Adam, in the Hebrew language, denotes earthy, and 
both the man and woman were named Adam, or earthy, 
to remind them of their original. The words man and 
woman in the Hebrew language differ in nothing ex- 
cept in the feminine form of the latter term. This, it is 
believed, was intended to intimate that man and woman 
are not only of the same nature, but, so to speak, the 
counterparts of each other. The name Eve — that is, 
Life — was not given to our first mother till after the fall. 
It was then given by her husband Adam, undoubtedly 
by divine direction, because, says the sacred record, " she 
was " — i. e., was to be — " the mother of all living." 

The sexes, having a common origin, were formed to 
promote the happiness of each other. " The woman 
(says Henry the commentator) was made of a rib out 
of the side of Adam ; not made out of his head to 
top him, not out of his feet to be trampled upon by 
him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under 
his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be be- 
loved." 

OF WHAT CREATED. 

Man's body was made of the dust of the ground- 
immortal if he continued in righteousness, but mortal 
if he fell, for mortality followed sin as a punishment. 
(Gen. ii. 7 ; Job xxxiii. 6 ; Ps cxxxix. 14; Job x. 11 ; 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 55 

Prov. xx. 12.) His soul was made out of nothing. It 
was immediately breathed into him by the Almighty. 
It was therefore rational, spiritual and immortal. 
God created and united the soul and the body, so as 
to constitute, by this union, one person, performing 
such internal and external functions and actions as 
are peculiar to human nature, and which are just, holy 
and pleasing to God. (Jer. xxxviii. 16 ; Prov. xx. 27 ; 
Eccl. iii. 21 ; xii. 7 ; Ezek. xviii. 4.) Man was also 
created " in the image of God." (Gen. i. 27.) This 
image may be conceived to consist in the essence of 
the human soul, which is spiritual like the divine es- 
sence. God created matter, but it was not made 
after his image, because he is not himself material. 
But the soul resembles him, because it is uncompound- 
ed, indivisible, immortal, capable of thought and 
activity. The image of God, however, principally 
and properly consisted in the qualities of man's soul, 
which were similar to the perfections of his Maker. 
In what did this image chiefly consist? 

1. KNOWLEDGE. 

(Eph. iv. 24 ; Col. iii. 10.) Man was not created in 
a state of ignorance, nor only with those faculties by 
the exercise of which he might acquire knowledge, but 
in the actual possession of such a measure thereof as 
was suited to his condition. He had a perfect know- 
ledge of God, of his will and works, so far as was 
necessary to render him happy and fit for universal 
obedience. 

2. RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

(Col. iii. 10 ; Eph. iv. 24.) Man, at his creation, 
had not an imputed but an inherent righteousness, 



56 NOTES ON THE SHOETEE CATECHISM. 

which consisted in a perfect conformity of all the 
powers and faculties of his soul to the pure nature of 
God and the moral law written upon his heart. (Ezek. 
xxviii. 15 ; Eccles. vii. 29.) 

3. HOLINESS. 

(Col. iii. 10 ; Eph. iv. 24.) Man's affections were 
holy and pure, free from all sin and defilement, free 
from all disorder and distemper, and placed upon the 
most holy, high and noble objects. All that was pure 
and good was the object of his love ; all that was im- 
pure and sinful was the object of his dislike and abhor- 
rence. The outer life was in perfect harmony with the 
inward state. 

4. DOMINION OVER THE CREATURES. 

(Gen. i. 26 ; Ps. viii. 6.) Man was constituted the 
lord of this lower world ; all the creatures were inspired 
with respect for him and submitted to his government, 
and he was at liberty to employ them for such ends as 
an innocent being could desire to accomplish. He 
might be said to have been created in the image of 
God, because he was his representative and vicegerent. 

Alas! the unspeakable difference between man's 
present and former condition! In our bodies what 
seeds of weakness, distress and decay ! How are our 
minds the sport of evil, ungovernable passions, ignor- 
ant, wild, wayward, the seat of a thousand weaknesses 
and follies ! In the moral world what scenes of pollu- 
tion, fraud, tyranny, war and ravage ! In the natural 
world what a host of enemies — famine, disease, storm 
and tempest — everything a means of destruction ! (See 
Lam. iv. 1 ; v. 16.) 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 57 



When Galen, a celebrated physician, but atheistically in- 
clined, had anatomized the human body and carefully survey- 
ed the frame of it, viewed the fitness and usefulness of every 
part of it, and the many several intentions of every little vein, 
bone and muscle, and the beauty of the whole, he fell into a 
frame of devotion and wrote a hymn to his Creator. 

Question 11. — What are God's works of providence f 
Answer. — God's works of providence are, his most 

holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all 

his creatures, and all their actions. 

When God made the world, he did not leave it to 
itself, but continued to uphold and control it. 

FMOOF OF THE DOCTRINE. 

The Scriptures teach that there is a Providence. 
(Ps. ciii. 19 ; John v. 17.) As God rested from the 
works of creation (Gen. ii. 2), the declaration of the 
Saviour just quoted must refer to works of Providence. 
(See also Ps. xxxiv. 6 ; Acts xiv. 17.) 

Providence is also proved by reason. The admir- 
able order and harmony among such a vast variety of 
creatures in the world, continuing for so many ages, 
notwithstanding their different and opposite natures ; 
the accomplishment of future events exactly accord- 
ing to the predictions of them long before ; the revo- 
lutions of kingdoms ; the orderly returns of seed-time 
and harvest; and the preservation of a Church on 
earth against the fury of hell and wicked men ; — all 
these plainly evince the existence of a superintending 
Providence. 

The first part of God's providence mentioned is 



58 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



I'JUJSJJJi VATIOJf. 

This is taught in Ps. xxxvi. 6 and Heb. i. 3. God 
preserves things — (1) When he continues and upholds 
them in being. (Ps. cxix. 89, 90, 91.) (2) When he 
provides things needful for their preservation. (Ps. 
cxlv. 15, 16 ; Neh. ix. 6 ; Ps. xxxiv. 20.) 

The second part of God's providence is 

G O VERNMENT. 

This is taught in Ps. lxvii. 4 ; ciii. 20 ; cxlviii. 8 ; 
Dan. vi. 22. God governs things when he rules over 
them, disposes and directs them to his and their end. 
(Ps. lxvi. 7 ; Prov. xvi. 9.) 

God's providence is universal. It reaches — I. To all 
places. (Jer. xxiii. 23, 24 ; Ps. cvii. 23, 24.) II. To all 
persons, especially the persons of the godly. (1 Pet. v. 
7 ; Ps. xxxiii. 18, 19 ; xxxiv. 10 ; lvi. 8 ; xxiii. 5 ; 
1 Kings xvii. 6 ; Ps. xxxvii. 9.) III. To all affairs 
and occurrences in the world. (Ps. lxxv. 6, 7 ; 1 Sam. 
xi. 13 ; Ps. cxlvii. 9 ; Eccles. ix. 11 ; Prov. xxii. 2 ; 
Matt. x. 30.) 

As to the character of the divine providence, it is 

I. HOLT. 

(See Ps. cxlv. 17.) All the providential acts or 
dispensations of God are, like himself, perfectly right- 
eous, equitable, just and good. That his providence is 
concerned in the good actions of men cannot be denied. 
(Phil. ii. 13.) But it may be asked, How is it con- 
versant about sinful actions? To this it may be re- 
plied — 1. God permits such actions. (Ps. lxxxi. 11, 12; 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 59 



Acts xiv. 16.) The permission of such actions, how- 
ever, does not import that he approves of them ; for, 
as he is infinitely holy, sin must always be the object 
of his abhorrence; and accordingly we find him tes- 
tifying against the sins into which he permits men 
to fall, uttering his threatenings against them and 
actually punishing the sinners. (See Acts ii. 23.) 2. 
God limits sinful actions. (Matt. xvi. 18.) " The re- 
mainder of the wrath of man thou restrainest." " Hith- 
erto shall ye come, and no farther." 3. God overrules 
sinful actions, so as to accomplish great and good de- 
signs by them, and thus he makes the wrath of man 
praise him. (See Gen. i. 20 ; Heb. xii. 1 ; 2 Cor. iv. 
17 ; Isa. x. 7 ; Hab. i. 12.) 

II. WISE. 

God is " wonderful in counsel and excellent in work- 
ing." (Isa. xxviii. 29.) His wisdom appears in every 
process and operation in the natural world, by which 
the wants of every living thing are consulted, provided 
for and supplied ; or if we examine the moral world 
the same wisdom is not less conspicuous. Good (as 
we have just seen) is brought out of evil, light out of 
darkness, and order out of confusion. The jarring 
passions, views, interests and pursuits of men are so 
overruled and directed as to be made to issue invari- 
ably in the accomplishment of the designs of Heaven. 
(See Acts xiv. 16 ; iv. 28 ; 2 Kings xix. 28.) 

III. POWERFVL. 

(See Dan. iv. 25 ; Ps. lxvi. 7.) We see the power 
of Providence in bringing about great events by small 



60 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

and apparently contemptible means ; thus God makes 
the worm Jacob to thresh mountains (Isa. xii. 15), and 
by the foolishness of preaching saves them that believe. 
(1 Cor. i. 21.) How few events have been productive 
of such great changes of almost every description as 
the Protestant Reformation ! Yet this Reformation 
was chiefly effected by the instrumentality of an ob- 
scure Augustinian monk ; for such was Martin Luther 
when he commenced the great and glorious work which 
he was preserved and honored to accomplish. On the 
other hand, the best concerted plans and the most 
powerful preparations of earthly princes have been 
often turned to confusion and brought to destruction 
by causes which were overlooked or despised. Whom 
God will protect, none can injure. Whom God will 
destroy, none can save. " If God be for us, who can 
be against us ?" 

PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS. 

Let us (1) admire God's providence. 2. Quietly 
submit to it. (Ps. xxxix. 9.) 3. If we are Christians, 
believe that all the dispensations of providence will 
combine for our good at last. (Rom. viii. 28.) 4. 
Guard against immoderate fear, since nothing can 
befall us by chance. 5. Rest assured that God's prov- 
idence will protect his Church, which is the apple of 
his eye. 6. Long for the time when the mysteries of 
providence shall be fully unfolded to us. 

We are too apt to forget our actual dependence on Provi- 
dence for the circumstances of every instant. The most trivial 
events may determine our state in the world. Turning up one 
street instead of another may bring us into company with a 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 61 



person whom we should not otherwise have met; and this 
may lead to a train of other events which may determine the 
happiness or misery of our lives. — Richard Cecil. 

"All these things are against me," thought good old Jacob 
when he exclaimed in the bitterness of his soul, " Joseph is 
not, Simeon is not, and will ye take Benjamin away?" And 
it did seem as if these bereavements would " bring down his 
gray hairs with sorrow to the grave." But it was all cleared 
up when " he saw the wagons " which Joseph had sent to carry 
him and all his numerous family down to Egypt, and save 
them alive during the terrible seven years' famine. So Joseph. 
himself must have thought when his brethren cast him into 
the pit, when they sold him as a slave to the Ishmaelites, and 
when, upon the false charge of an adulterous woman, he was 
thrown into prison, without any hope of relief, or any prospect 
of it, except by a violent and ignominious death. But how 
was it when he found himself suddenly raised to the viceroy- 
alty of Egypt, and that God had sent him down to preserve the 
life of his venerable father and of the very brethren who had 
so cruelly sold him to the passing caravan ? Thus is it evident 
that " all things work together for good " to the people of 
God. 

Question 12. — What special act of providence did 
God exercise towards man, in the estate wherein he was 
created f 

Answer. — When God had created man, he entered 
into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect 
obedience ; forbidding him to eat of the tree of knowledge 
of good and evil, upon pain of death. 

Man, immediately after his creation, was placed in 
a state of active employment. God " put him in the 
garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." 

He was also placed in a state of trial ; that is, he 
was put in such a condition as to show whether he 



62 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

would obey or disobey his Maker. Having been crea- 
ted a moral agent, possessed of understanding and will, 
and therefore free and capable of obeying, it was in 
every sense right and reasonable that he should be 
tested as to his willingness to recognize his allegiance 
to the God of infinite greatness and excellence, who 
was infinitely deserving of his supreme love, reverence 
and obedience. Accordingly, God revealed to him in 
direct and definite terms his whole duty, and disclosed 
to him the law by which his life was to be governed. 

COVENANT OF LIFE. 

The immediate means of trial were reasonably and 
benevolently selected. (Gen. ii. 15-17. See Hos. vi. 
7, marg.) God had given to man with the bounty of a 
God. Nothing was denied which was either necessary 
or useful. A trifling gratification of either taste or 
curiosity was the utmost which he could expect from 
disobedience. The continuance of all his enjoyments 
was the reward of obedience. 

The law, already referred to, under which our first 
parents were placed is styled in the Scriptures the first 
or old covenant, and is commonly called by divines the 
covenant of works, in distinction from the new or second 
covenant, of which Christ is the Mediator, and which 
is called the covenant of grace. 

THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND 
EVIL. 

Why did this tree receive the name it bore ? We 
answer, " By the law is the knowledge of sin." By 
the very prohibition to eat of this tree man was 
taught that it was good to obey and evil to disobey. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 63 

The knowledge of the good of obedience and the evil 
of disobedience was intimated and inculcated as often 
as he looked at the interdicted tree. It stood " in the 
midst of the garden," that he might often see it, and that 
the sight of it might constantly lead him to say, " There 
is the tree which teaches me that it is good to obey 
and evil to disobey." 

OBJECTIONS. 

It has been said that it was unworthy of God to in- 
terpose his authority in a matter so trifling, and that 
it is incredible that he would have exposed our first 
parent to the hazard of ruining himself and his pos- 
terity by eating an apple. But it is not difficult to 
perceive that if God had an intention to make trial of 
the dispositions of this newly- formed subject, he could 
not have chosen a more proper method. " A saying 
of God," remarks Dr. Chalmers, " was involved in the 
matter ; and heaven and earth must pass away ere a 
saying of his can pass away. And so the apple became 
decisive of the fate of a world, and out of the very 
scantiness of the occasion did there emerge a sublime 
display of truth and holiness. The beginning of the 
world was, indeed, the period of great manifestations 
of the Godhead, and they all seem to accord in style 
and character with each other ; and in that very his- 
tory which has called forth the profane and unthink- 
ing levity of many a sinner may we behold as much 
of the majesty of principle as in the creation of light 
we behold of the majesty of power." 

To the objection, " Why did God give Adam this 
law, knowing that it would be transgressed ?" an old 
writer replies : 1. It was Adam's fault that he did not 



64 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



keep the law. God gave him a stock of grace to trade 
with, but he of himself broke. 2. Though God fore- 
saw Adam would transgress, yet that was not a suf- 
ficient reason that Adam should have no law given 
him; for by the same reason God should not have 
given his written word to men to be a rule of faith 
and manners, because he foresaw that some would not 
believe and others would be profane. Shall not laws 
be made in the land because some break them ? 3. 
God, though he foresaw Adam would break the law, 
knew how to turn it to a greater good in sending 
Christ. The first covenant being broken, he knew 
how to establish a second and a better. 

PECULIARITIES OF THE COVENANT OF LIFE. 

I. Its form was working : Do this and live. Work- 
ing was the ground and condition of our justification. 
(Gal. iii. 12 ; Rom. vii. 10.) Not but that working is 
required in the covenant of grace : we are commanded to 
work out our salvation and be rich in good works. 
But works in the covenant of grace are not required 
under the same notion as in the first covenant with 
Adam. Works are not for the justification of our per- 
sons, but as an attestation of our love to God — not as a 
cause of our salvation, but as an evidence of our adop- 
tion. Works are required in the covenant of grace, 
not so much in our own strength as in the strength of 
another. (Phil. ii. 13.) 

II. The covenant of works was very strict : God re- 
quired of Adam and all mankind perfect obedience. 
All things written in the "book of the law" (Gal. iii. 
10, 12) must be done. The obedience was to be perfect 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 65 



— 1. In respect to the matter of it ; all the powers of 
soul and body were to be employed in God's service. 
2. In respect of the principle ; namely, habitual right- 
eousness and natural disposition and inclination to do 
anything God required. 3. In respect to the end, 
which was chiefly to be God's glory, swaying all the 
actions. 4. In respect to the manner, with perfect 
love and delight. 5. In respect to time, it was to be 
constant and perpetual. (Gal. iii. 10.) Thus the cove- 
nant was very strict. There was no mere}' in case of 
failure. 

III. The covenant of works was the covenant of in- 
nocency. It was made with man immediately after 
his creation, when he had committed no sin. Nor had 
it a mediator. It is the better covenant that is estab- 
lished in the hands of a Mediator. (Heb. viii. 6.) 

JDIFE. 

The promise of life was included in the threatening 
of death in the covenant of works. " In the day that 
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," necessarily 
implies, If thou dost not eat thereof thou shalt surely 
live. (Gal. iii. 12.) The life thus promised was — 1. 
The continuance of his natural life, consisting in the 
union of his soul and body. 2. The continuance of 
his spiritual life, consisting in the favor of God (Lev. 
xviii. 5), and his entering upon perfect immortality 
and eternal happiness, both of soul and body, in 
heaven after he had passed through the time of 
his trial upon earth. (Rom. vii. 10.) That eternal 
life was thus promised is evident from Matt. xix. 
16, 17. 

5 



66 NOTES ON THE SHOETEE CATECHISM. 



DEATH. 

(See Rom, vi. 23 ; v. 12 ; Ezek. xviii. 4.) The death 
which God threatened as the punishment of man's sin 
was — 1. Temporal death, consisting in the separation 
of the soul from the body. To this man was liable in 
the day that he ate of the forbidden fruit, and not be- 
fore. 2. Spiritual death, consisting in the separation 
of the soul from God and the loss of God's image. 
This death seized upon man in the moment of his first 
sin. 3. Eternal death. Whose end is destruction. 
(Phil. iii. 19.) Who shall be punished with ever- 
lasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, 
and from the glory of his power. (2 Thess. i. 9.) 
Perdition of ungodly men. (2 Pet. iii. 7.) 

LIGHT UPON THE DARKNESS, 

Blessed be God ! a new covenant more glorious 
than the old has been made. The former has no 
glory by reason of that which excelleth. More is 
regained in Christ than was lost in Adam. (Rom. 
v. 19.) 

In the reign of King Charles I. the goldsmiths of London 
had a custom of weighing several sorts of their precious metal 
before the privy council. On this occasion they made use of 
scales poised with such exquisite nicety that the beam would 
turn, the master of the company affirmed, at the two-hundredth 
part of a grain. Noy, the famous attorney-general, standing 
by and hearing this, replied, " I should be loath then to have 
all my actions weighed in these scales/' With whom I heart- 
ily concur, says the pious Hervey, in relation to myself. And 
since the balances of the sanctuary, the balances in God's hand, 
are infinitely exact, oh what need have we of the merit and 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 67 



righteousness of Christ to make us acceptable in his sight and 
passable in his esteem. 

Question 13. — Did our first pare?its continue in the 
estate wherein they were created? 

Answer. — Our first parents, being left to the freedom 
of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were 
created, by sinning against God. 

The origin of moral evil is, in every view of the sub- 
ject, an inexplicable mystery. It is one of the secrets 
of the moral world. While no one can doubt or deny 
the fact that it does exist — for we do not believe that 
even professed atheists doubt it — yet to account for its 
existence, or to explain the process or manner in which 
it came into existence, is not, we suspect, within the 
reach of the human faculties in the present life. 

Newton says: "Many have puzzled themselves about the 
origin of evil ; I observe there is evil, and that there is a way 
to escape it, and with this I begin and end." 

THE FREEDOM OF THEIR OWN WILE. 

" As Adam was a moral agent," says Dr. Dick, " we 
must hold that his will was free ; and that it was so is 
manifest from the event, for he did turn aside from 
the path of duty and make a choice which proved 
fatal to himself and his posterity. ' God hath made 
man upright, but they have sought out many inven- 
tions.' (Eccles. vii. 29.) By freedom of will, however, 
I do not mean that his mind was in a state of suspense 
or of indifference to good and evil. I believe such a 
state to be impossible, unless it be preceded by com- 
plete ignorance of both ; and, if possible, to be crimi- 



68 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



nal, because our knowledge of what is right and good 
should immediately determine the choice. His mind 
was not in equilibria like a balance, the scales of 
which are pressed down by equal weights; he was 
averse to evil and inclined only to good, but he might 
reject the good and choose the evil. He was not con- 
firmed in purity, as angels and glorified saints are ; he 
was a mutable creature, and might change by an act 
of volition ; and in this consisted his freedom of will." 
(Prov. ix. 12 ; James i. 13 ; Job xxxiv. 10 ; Isa. v. 4; 
Matt. xx. 15 ; Hos. xiii. 9.) 

TELL FKOM THE ESTATE IN WHICH THEY WE HE 
CHEATED. 

* 

By " estate " is meant man's state of innocence, in 
which he had his standing under God as his great 
Lord and Creator — perfect conformity to him, inti- 
mate fellowship and communion with him, and an 
ample dominion over all the works of his hand in 
this lower world, as explained in Questions 10 and 
12. (Hos. xiv. 1 ; Rom. v. 12.) 

INSTIGATION OF THE DEVIL. 

The fall of man had not its origin in God, but was 
brought about by the instigation of the devil and the 
free will of man. The devil entered into a serpent ; 
and therein, by seducing words, enticed the woman to 
take and eat the forbidden fruit, and she gave to her 
husband and he did eat likewise. (Gen. iii. 1-6.) 

But notwithstanding the agency of Satan in it, the 
fall of man must be laid at his own door, for he will- 
ingly yielded to the temptation of the devil. (James i. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 69 

14.) From this yielding has proceeded our depravity 
and misery. (See Eccles. vii. 29 ; Job ix. 20 ; Jer. ii. 
21 ; Gen. iii. 7 ; xix. 22-24.) 

"BY S1NJSING AGAINST GOD." 

Our first parents were sufficiently furnished with 
everything necessary for yielding perfect obedience to 
the divine will. They had, as we have seen, perfect 
knowledge in their understanding, freedom and in- 
clination to good in their will, and spotless holiness in 
their hearts and affections. (Eccles. vii. 29.) Their 
eating the forbidden fruit, therefore, was an act of 
contempt and disobedience to God. (Hos. xiv. 1 ; 
Rom. v. 12; James i. 15.) The fault was entirely 
their own. God was in no sense the author of their 
sin. Had Adam exerted the power which he pos- 
sessed, he would have stood. 

PRACTICAL LESSONS. 

1. As Adam in the state of integrity fell, how un- 
able are we, whose original righteousness is gone, to 
stand in our strength ! 2. How important is it to 
guard against temptation ! (Matt. iv. 3 ; vi. 13 ; xiii. 
25, 26; 2 Cor. ii. 11 ; Rev. ii. 24.) 3. How impos- 
sible is it for us to be our own saviour! (2 Cor. 
iii. 5.) 4. How much do we need an interest in the 
second Adam to recover, and more than recover, that 
which was lost by the first! (Ps. lxix. 4.) Under 
the first covenant the justice of God as an avenger of 
blood pursues us; but if through faith in Christ we are 
interested in the second covenant, we are in the city of 



70 NOTES ON THE SHOETER CATECHISM. 



refuge, the justice of God is pacified toward us. (Rom. 
viii. 1.) 

An old man once said, " For a long period I puzzled myself 
about the difficulties of Scripture, until at last I came to the 
conclusion that reading the Bible was like eating fish. When I 
find a difficulty, I lay it aside and call it a bone. Why should 
I choke on the bone when there is much nutritious meat to 
use ? Some day, perhaps, I may find that even the bones may 
afford me nourishment." 

Question. 14. — What is sin f 

Answer. — Sin is any ivant of conformity unto, or 
transgression of the law of God. 

That man's apostasy from God consisted in sin- 
ning against him is evident from Lam. v. 16. That 
sin is in the world, and also in us, may be proven by a 
variety of arguments : 1. God declares that we are 
all guilty of sin. (Gen. vi. 5; xviii. 21; Jer. xvii. 9; 
Rom. i. 21 ; iii. 10 ; vii. 18 ; Ps. xiv. and liii. ; Isa, 
lxix.) 2. The law of God recognizes sin. (Rom. iii. 
20 ; iv. 15 ; v. 20 ; vii. 7.) 3. Conscience convinces 
and convicts us of sin. (Rom. i. 19 ; ii. 13, 14.) 4. 
Punishments and death, to which all men are subject — 
yea, our cemeteries, graveyards and places of execu- 
tion — are all so many sermons upon the evil of sin, be- 
cause God, being just, never inflicts punishment upon 
any of his creatures unless it be for sin. (See Rom. v. 
12 ; vi. 23 ; Deut. xxvii. 26.) 

Tin: TjA w of god. 
What are we to understand by this ? All the pre- 
cepts or commandments God has given to man as a 
rule of his obedience. There was a bright and fair copy 



NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 71 

of this law written upon the heart of man in innocence, 
but that being, in a great measure, lost by the fall, 
God has written again to us the great things of his law 
in the Scriptures of truth. (Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20. See 
also Rom. ii. 14, 15.) We are not to regard all the laws 
of God mentioned in Scripture as of binding force now 
under the New Testament. The ceremonial law, which 
was a shadow of good things to come, is now abrogated 
since the coming of Christ in the flesh ; and many of 
the judicial laws, in so far as they had a particular re- 
lation to the state of the Jewish nation, are laid aside 
but the moral law is perpetually binding on all man- 
kind in all ages and periods of the world. (Ps. cxix. 
160.) Does sin suppose a law ? Yes. (Rom. iv. 15 ; 
v. 13.) Is sin the breach of a law ? Yes. (1 John iii. 
4.) Is it God's law only that can make a thing to be 
sin ? Yes. (Ps. li. 4.) Is every breach of God's law 
sin ? Yes. (1 John v. 17.) Are we to judge of sin 
by the law ? Yes. (Rom. iii. 20.) Could we discover 
sin without some law? No. (Rom. vii. 7.) Is the 
transgression of the law of nature sin ? Yes. (Rom. 
ii. 14, 15.) Does the written law discover the root of 
sin ? Yes. (Rom. vii. 7.) 

SIN DEFINED. 

In the original language of the New Testament the 
word for sin (hamartia) is derived from a word whose 
primitive signification is, to miss the mark. This suggests 
as perfect and extensive an idea of sin as perhaps can 
be given. The law of God holds up to us a marh at 
which we are to aim, or a rule or line to which we are 
to conform. Everything which misses or falls short 



72 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



of this mark, or which deviates from this rule or line, 
is sin. (See Ps. iv. 4 ; 1 Thess. v. 22 ; 2 Cor. vi. 17 ; 
Ps. xcvii. 10; Prov. xiv. 9; Ps. cxix. 11.) 

ANY WANT OF CONFORMITY UNTO. 

By want of conformity to God's law is meant both 
an unsuitableness and disagreeableness to the law, and 
a non-observation and non-obedience to it. This want 
of conformity includes — 1. Original sin, and that nat- 
ural enmity which exists in the heart against the law 
of God. (Rom. viii. 7.) 2. All sins of omission. The 
former is a want of conformity of heart, the latter a 
want of conformity of life, to God's law. (See Deut. 
vi. 5 ; John xvii. *3 ; Ex. xx. 3 ; Deut. xxvii. 26 ; Gen. 
iv. 7 ; Jer. xvii. 9 ; Rom. vii. 7 ; John iii. ; 1 Cor. ii. 
14; xv. 28.) * 

TRANSGRESSION OF. 

The Latin word transgredior, " to transgress," signi- 
fies to go beyond one's bounds ; the law of God is to 
keep us within the bounds of our duty — sin is going be- 
yond our bounds. As a sin of omissionfiis a neglectiDg 
or forgetting to do that good which the law commands 
(James iv. 17 ; Matt. xxv. 30), so a sin of commission 
is a doing of what the law forbids. (Eccles. x. 8 ; Gal. 
iii. 10 ; Ps. li. 4 ; 1 John iii. 4 ; Rom. vii. 14 ; viii. 7.) 
Is nothing a sin, then, but what is against God's law ? 
Nothing is a sin but what God has either expressly or 
by consequence forbidden in his law. 

A minister, explaining the distinction between sins of omis- 
sion and commission, made use of the following simile by way 
of illustration : " Behold yonder fire, which lately burnt with 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 73 



so much brightness ; it is now dull ; let it alone, and it will 
soon go out, but if you pour water on it you will put it out. 
The first is an act of omission, the second of commission." 

EVIL OF SIN. 

In order to see this, let it be considered that — 1. Sin 
is evil in its origin. It is of the devil. (John viii. 
34.) 2. It is evil in its nature. It is compared to the 
vomit of dogs (2 Pet. ii. 22), to the plague (1 Kings 

viii. 38), to a canker. (2 Tim. ii. 17.) 3. It is high 
treason against heaven (1 John iii. 4 ; Neb., ix. 26), a 
contumacious affront to God (Lev. xxvi. 40 ; Job xv. 
25), an act of base ingratitude. (Hos. ii. 8 : 2 Sam. xvi. 

17. ) 4. It is a foolish thing. (Luke xii. 20 ; Prov. i. 

18. ) 5. It is a fluting thing. (2 Cor. vii. 1 ; Tit. i. 
15.) 6. It is a debasing thing. (Dan. v. 21 ; Ps. 
xlix. 20.) 7. It is an enslaving thing. Satan bids 
men sin, and they do it. (Acts v. 3.) 8. It is an of- 
fensive thing. (Ps. xiv. 3.) 9. It is a painful thing. 
(Jer. ix. 5.) 10. It is a disturbing thing. (Isa. ,lvii. 
21.) When Spira had sinned, he was in such horror 
that he said he envied Cain and Judas. Charles IX., 
who was guilty of the massacre in Paris, was after- 
ward a terror to himself ; he was frightened at every 
noise, and could not endure to be awakened out of his 
sleep without music. Cain, in killing Abel, stabbed 
half the world at a blow, but could not kill the worm 
of his own conscience. 11. Sin, unrepented of, brings 
the "second death" — a death always dying. "And 
death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This 
is the second death." (Rev. xx. 14. See also Mark 

ix. 44.) 



74 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



THE QUE AT EST SIN. 

The transcendent mercy of God has provided a 
Saviour from sin. We may be " washed and sancti- 
fied and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and 
by the Spirit of our God." (1 Cor. vi. 11.) Guilty, 
polluted, condemned and perishing as we are, we may 
obtain forgiveness and salvation. (Mark xvi. 16.) To 
reject this Saviour is the sin of sins; this cuts the 
soul off from the provided remedy and seals its per- 
dition ; this is the damning sin of unbelief ! (Mark 
xvi. 15.) 

The Rev. John Newton said of a certain clergyman that he 
had never heard him preach but once, on which occasion he 
had observed, " If you wish to know what a sinner is, he is a 
young devil ; and if you wish to know what a devil is, he is an 
old sinner." 

The last words that Archbishop Usher was heard to express 
were, "Lord, forgive my sins, especially my sins of omission.'" 

" He made me out a sinner fordoing nothing," said one un- 
der the conviction of sin, and who in a revival had been 
asked, " How were you awakened ?" It was a new thought to 
the poor man, who had been comforting himself with the plea 
that he had done nothing very bad. But now he saw that his 
greatest sin was the very thing in which he had been comfort- 
ing himself — doing nothing. 

" Who loves to sin, in hell his portion's given ; 
Who dies to sin shall after live in heaven." 

Question 15. — What ivas the sin whereby our first 
parents fell from the estate wherein they were created f 

Answer. — The sin, whereby our first parents fell from 
the estate wherein they icere created, teas their eating the 
forbidden fruit. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 75 



THE FADE. 

By the "estate" in which our first parents were 
created, is meant the state of innocence, in which they 
had their standing under God as their great Lord and 
Creator. " God hath made man upright, but they have 
sought out many inventions." (Eccles. vii. 29.) 

PARADISE. 

" The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, 
and there he put the man whom he had formed." 
(Gen. ii. 8.) Eden was the region in which the garden 
of Paradise was planted. Its site cannot be determined. 

THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT. 

(See Gen. ii. 16, 17.) God did not forbid our first 
parents to eat of the forbidden tree because there was 
any intrinsic evil in the fruit of it, it being as indiffer- 
ent in itself to eat of this tree as any other tree in the 
garden ; but he forbade them to eat of the fruit of this 
tree to try their obedience. 

The trial man had was very fair, Adam was very 
intelligent. He was in the. full Angor of his powers. 
He well understood God's will. The test to which he 
was subjected was very slight. 

OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 

It has been said that it was unworthy of God to 
interpose his authority in a manner so trifling, and 
that it is incredible that he would have exposed our 
first parent to the hazard of ruining himself and his 
posterity by eating an apple. But to this Dr. Dick 
replies : " The morality of an action does not depend 
upon its abstract nature, but upon its relation to the 



76 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

law of God. Men seem often to judge of actions as 
they judge of material substances, by their bulk. What 
is great in itself or in its consequences they will admit 
to be a sin, but what appears little they pronounce 
to be a small fault or no fault at all. Had Adam, it 
has been remarked, been possessed of preternatural 
power, and wantonly and wickedly exerted it in blast- 
ing the beauty of Paradise and turning it into a scene 
of desolation, they would have granted that he was 
guilty of a great and daring offence, for which a curse 
was justly pronounced upon him. But they can see 
no harm in so trifling a matter as the eating of a little 
fruit. Nothing, however, is more fallacious than such 
reasoning. The essence of sin is the transgression of a 
law; and whether the law forbids you to commit mur- 
der or to move your finger, it is equally transgressed 
when you violate the precept. Whatever the act of 
disobedience is, it is rebellion against the lawgiver, it 
is a renunciation of his authority, it dissolves that 
moral dependence upon him which is founded on the 
nature of things and is necessary to maintain the order 
and happiness of the universe." 

ELEMENTS OF THE SIN OF OUR FIRST PARENTS. 

The conclusiveness of this reply is the more mani- 
fest when we consider the elements of the sin of our 
first parent. It involved — 1. Pride, ambition and an 
admiration of self. (Gen. iii. 5, 6.) 2. Unbelief, for 
he believed the devil rather than God. (Gen. ii. 17; 
iii. 4.) 3. Contempt and disobedience to God, for eat- 
ing the fruit was directly contrary to his command. 
4. Ingratitude for having been created in the divine 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 77 

image and for the enjoyment of eternal life ; he heark- 
ened to the devil more than to God. (Gen. ii. 16.) 5. 
The want of love to posterity ; he did not think that 
he would, by sinning, lose those gifts for himself and 
his posterity. (Rom. v. 12.) 6. Apostasy, or a mani- 
fest falling away from God to the devil, whom he be- 
lieved and obeyed rather than God, and whom he set 
up in the place of God, separating himself from God. 
Thus is it evident that the fall of man was no trifling 
or single offence, but a sin manifold and horrible in its 
nature. 

AGENCY OF SATAN. 

We are told that it was by the instrumentality of a 
serpent that our first parents were tempted to commit 
the sin which forfeited their happy state. (Gen. iii.) 
We find repeated instances in Scripture of God's mak- 
ing use of inferior creatures and their natural organs 
to teach great lessons to men. It was by giving voice 
to the ass that Balaam's rashness was reproved. (Num. 
xxii. 22-35.) It was by means of a fish that Jonah's 
disobedience was punished. (Jonah i. 17 ; ii. 10.) 
Other examples also are to be found. (Matt. xvii. 27 ; 
Luke v. 4-9 ; John xxi. 3-8.) Not only have the 
devils become identified, as it were, with men, but they 
have also instigated animals to strange unnatural deeds. 
(Matt. viii. 28-34.) Quite analogous, therefore, is 
Satan's using the serpent as the means of his machi- 
nations in Eden. 

LESSONS. 

From our first parents being seduced by Satan to 
eat the forbidden fruit we may learn — 1. To resist the 



78 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



first motions of sin iD the heart and the temptations of 
Satan to it (Ps. lxvi. 18 ; James iv. 7) ; 2. That since 
man, innocent, fell before the temptation, fallen man 
must be an easy prey if not kept by the power of 
God through faith unto salvation. (1 Pet. i. 5.) Let 
us therefore seek to be strong only " in the Lord and 
in the power of his might " ! (Eph. vi. 10.) 

Mr. Thomas, a missionary at Serampore, was one day, after 
addressing a crowd of the natives on the banks of the Ganges, 
accosted by a Brahmin as follows : " Sir, don't you say that the 
devil tempts men to sin ?" " Yes," answered Mr. Thomas. 
" Then," said the Brahmin, "certainly the fault is the devil's; 
the devil, therefore, and not man, ought to suffer the punish- 
ment." While the countenances of many of the natives dis- 
covered their approbation of the Brahmin's inference, Mr. 
Thomas, observing a boat with several men on board descend- 
ing the river, with that facility of instructive retort for which 
he was so much distinguished, replied, " Brahmin, do you see 
yonder boat?" "Yes." "Suppose I were to send some of my 
friends to destroy every person on board and bring me all that 
is valuable in the boat ; who ought to suffer punishment — I 
for instructing them, or they for doing this wicked act?" 
"Why," answered the Brahmin with emotion, "you ought all 
to be put to death together." "Ay, Brahmin," replied Mr. 
Thomas ; "and if you and the devil sin together, the devil and 
you will be punished together." 

Question 16. — Did all mankind, fall in Adam's first 
transgression f 

Aksw t er. — The covenant being made with Adam, 
not only for himself, hut for his posterity, all mankind, 
descending from him by ordinary generation, sin- 
ned in him, and fell with him in his first trans- 
gression. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 79 



THE COVENANT. 

The covenant referred to, is the convention entered 
into between God and man concerning the method of 
obtaining eternal happiness, which was accompanied 
with a threatening of death in the case of disobedience. 
It is sometimes called the covenant of nature, because 
it was entered into with man while he was in his nat- 
ural state, which was a state of innocence. (Gen. ii. 16, 
17.) It is more commonly called the covenant of 
works ; and this denomination is evidently appropriate, 
showing us at once what is its nature, and in what re- 
spect it differs from the other covenant, which bestows 
its reward not upon him who works, but upon him who 
believes. The transaction was federal on the part of 
God, as lie proposed a condition, sanctioned with a 
promise and a threatening ; and on the part of Adam, 
as he pledged himself to fulfill the condition. 

NOT ONLY FOR HIMSELF, BUT FOR HIS POSTERITY. 

By this is meant that the covenant was made with 
Adam not only personally or individually, but in a 
representative character; so that if Adam had con- 
tinued obedient to God as long as God chose to try 
him, it would happen that his posterity would be born 
with a sinless nature, and remain in an innocent and 
happy condition. But, on the other hand, if Adam 
should prove disobedient, his posterity would possess 
his nature in its changed and fallen state. Thus it 
appears that he acted not for himself alone, but for 
them also. It was appointed that his conduct w T ould 
affect their character and condition. 



80 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



SCRIPTURE PROOFS. 

That the extension of Adam's fall reached all who 
have sprung from him is thus evident: 

1. The Scriptures so testify. (Eph. ii. 3 ; Rom. v. 6, 
19 ; Job xiv. 4 ; John iii. 5.) 

2. Infants die, and are to be baptized. Therefore, 
they must have sin. But they cannot sin by imitation. 
It remains, therefore, that it must be born in them. 
(Isa. xlviii. 8 ; Gen. viii. 21.) Ambrose says : " Who is 
just before God, when an infant but a day old cannot 
be free from sin ?" 

3. Everything that is born has the nature of that 
from which it has proceeded, as it respects the sub- 
stance aud accidents of the species to which it belongs. 
But we are all born of corrupt and sinful parents ; 
therefore we all by our birth inherit or become par- 
takers of their corruption and guilt. (Gen. v. 3.) 

4. By the death of Christ, who is the second Adam, 
we obtain a twofold grace — we mean justification and 
regeneration. It follows, therefore, that Ave must all 
have derived from the first Adam the twofold evil of 
guilt and corruption of nature, otherwise there had 
been no necessity for a twofold grace and remedy. 
The first Adam was the figure of the second (Rom. v. 
14), if he was a public person, a federal head. On 
this supposition we perceive the resemblance, but it 
fails if there was no covenant with our great pro- 
genitor, and the words of Scripture, as found in 1 Cor. 
xv. 22, convey a false idea. Jesus Christ, who was 
the surety of sinners, might with propriety be called 
the second Adam, if the first Adam was the repre- 
sentative of his seed ; but if there is no legal relation 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 81 



between him and them, the appellation is not founded 
on truth. 

(See Rom. v. 18 ; vi. 15, 17 ; vii. 18 ; Gen. iii. 20 ; ix. 
10 ; 1 Cor. xv. 49.) 

SOW IS ADAM'S SIN MADE OURS? 

1. By imputation. It is ours not by imitation only, 
but by imputation. (Rom. v. 12.) Is it asked, How 
could Adam's posterity, being then unborn, fall in his 
first sin? We answer, Because they were considered, 
as in him. (1 Cor. xv. 22.) They were in him virtual- 
ly, as a natural root ; arid representatively, as a cove- 
nant head. 

2. By propagation. Not only is the guilt of Adam's 
sin imputed to us, but the pravity and corruption of 
his nature are communicated to us as a poison is carried 
from the fountain to the cistern. This is what is called 
original sin. (Ps. li. 5.) 

THE DEGENERACY UNIVERSAL. 

(Gen. vi. 12; Rom. iii. 10 ; Job xxv. 4.) Did our 
Lord Jesus descend from Adam by "ordinary gene- 
ration " ? No. (1 Cor. xv. 47.) Did he then sin in 
Adam? No. (Heb. vii. 26.) The body of Christ 
was conceived iu the womb of a virgin by the power 
of the Highest, that his human nature might not be 
stained or tainted with original sin, which is conveyed 
by Adam to his posterity ; hence, that which was born 
of the virgin is called " that holy thing." (Luke i. 35.) 

A minister having preached on the doctrine of original sin, 
was afterward waited on by some persons who stated their ob- 
jections to what he had advanced. After hearing them, he 
said, " I hope you do not deny actual sin too ?" " No," they 
6 



82 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



replied. The good man expressed his satisfaction at their 
acknowledgment, but to show the absurdity of their opin- 
ions in denying a doctrine so plainly taught in Scripture, 
he asked them, " Did you ever see a tree growing without a 
root?" 

" The fact is plain, that God governs the world and controls 
every event, and yet the world is full of sin and woe. I can- 
not discover the reason why it is so, though I can see that by 
this means God will have an opportunity to make manifest 
his abhorrence of sin, his justice and his mercy. Had it not 
been so there had been no displays of punitive justice, no ran- 
somed sinners, no bleeding Saviour, no songs of redeeming 
love in heaven. Still, much darkness overspreads the subject. 
Restless curiosity starts many questions to which no answer 
can be found. Is my heart, nevertheless, filled with love to 
this supreme Governor, 'whose judgments are unsearchable 
and whose ways are past finding out' ?" — Pliny Fiske. 

Question 17. — Into ivhat estate did the fall bring 
mankind? 

Answer. — The fall brought mankind into an estate 
of sin and misery. 

Why is man's apostasy from God called the fall? 
Because man is not now where God set him at the 
creation, but is fallen by his iniquity. (Hos. xiv. 1.) 
Where did God place man at his creation? Upon the 
high pinnacle of holiness and happiness. (Eccl. vii. 29 ; 
Zech. ix. 11.) The word " estate" signifies condition. 

siw. 

That the fall brought mankind into a state of sin is 
evident — 

1. From Revelation. (Hos. xiii. 9.) Adam begat a 
son in his own likeness (Gen. v. 3) ; that is, in the 
moral character which he possessed after his apostasy. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 83 



But if this was the nature of the immediate children of 
Adam, it cannot even be suspected that it is not equally 
the nature of his remote progeny, or that they do not 
all bear the likeness of their common parent. Not a 
shadow of reason can be given why one law should 
have governed the birth and character of his imme- 
diate descendants, and another the birth and cha- 
racter of the rest. Paul says of " both Jews and Gen- 
tiles that they are all under sin." (Rom. hi. 9 ; see 
also v. 19.) He also declares that by the works of 
the law no flesh shall be justified in the sight of God. 
As, therefore, no flesh, no child of Adam, shall be justi- 
fied by the works of the law, it follows irresistibly that 
every one is sinful. Our Saviour said to Nicodemus, 
" Except a man be born again, he cannot see the king- 
dom of God." (John iii. 3.) The only use or effect of 
the new birth is that in it holiness is implanted in the 
mind. But if any man were sinless he could not need 
regeneration nor be regenerated. 

2. From Fact. The laws of all nations prove that 
the human character is universally sinful. These laws 
are made only to repress and restrain sin, and are 
forced upon mankind by iron-handed necessity. Nor 
have they ever been able so far to change the cha- 
racter of man as to exterminate even a single sin. 
The religions of all nations prove the same thing, for 
the religion of every nation is expiatory; that is, it has 
been so formed as intentionally to make satisfaction 
for sin and to obtain reconciliation with a God ac- 
knowledged to be offended. Again, the writings of all 
nations confirm this doctrine. Man, as described by 
history, is undeniably and always has been an evil, 



84 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



odious being. Not to multiply proofs, the state of 
every man's heart and life proves the sinfulness of the 
race. Every one knows that he has fears concerning 
his future existence, which he would not have if he 
was sinless. Every man knows that he does not per- 
form all his duty and that he commits many positive 
sins. Every man is conscious that he loves sin and 
hates holiness. 

Dr. Blair, when concluding a public discourse in which he 
had descanted with his usual eloquence on the amiability of 
virtue, gave utterance to the following apostrophe : " O Virtue ! 
if thou wert embodied all men would love thee." 

His colleague, the Kev. R. Walker, ascended the same pul- 
pit on a subsequent part of the same Sabbath, and addressing 
the congregation, said, " My reverend friend observed in the 
morning that if Virtue were embodied all men would love her. 
Virtue has been embodied, but how was she treated ? Did 
all men love her? No ; she was despised and rejected of men, 
who, after defaming, insulting and scourging her, led her to 
Calvary, where they crucified her between two thieves." 

MISERY. 

The state of sin is put before the state of misery, 
because there could be no misery if there were no sin, 
sin being the procuring cause of all misery. (Eccles. 
viii. 6.) By nature we are under the power of Satan, 
who is called the "prince of the power of the air." 
(Eph. ii. 2.) Before the fall man was free — now he is 
enslaved ; before, a king on the throne — now, a cap- 
tive in fetters. The devil rules all the powers and fac- 
ulties of a sinner. 1. He rules the understanding ; 
he blinds men with ignorance, and then rules them as 
the Philistines first put out Samson's eyes, and then 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 85 

bound him. (2 Cor. iv. 4.) 2. He rules the will. 
Though he cannot force the will, yet he can, by a temp- 
tation, draw it. (John viii. 44.) The sinner's condi- 
tion is like that of the Prodigal, who went into a far 
country, wasted his substance, began to be in want, 
and was sent into the fields to feed swine. (Luke xv. 
13-15.) "Evil pursueth sinners." (Prov. xiii. 21.) 
All the creatures share in the sad effects of sin. (Gen. 
iii. 17.) All our troubles, sorrows, losses, fears, be- 
reavements, afflictions, are the product of sin. By it 
death entered (Rom. vi. 23) — death temporal, spirit- 
ual and eternal. (Rev. xxi. 8.) Sin has shame for its 
companion and death for its result. A wicked man 
knows what sin is in the pleasure of it, but not what it 
is in the punishment of it hereafter. 

REFLECTIONS. 

1. What sad thoughts should we have of the origi- 
nal sin that has created so many miseries ! (Isa. iii. 5, 
6.) " What honey," says an old writer, " can be got 
out of this lion ? What grapes can we gather off this 
thorn ? It sets heaven and earth against us : while we 
choose this bramble to rule, fire comes out of the bram- 
ble to devour us." 

2. How are all believers bound to Jesus Christ, who 
has freed them from that misery to which sin has ex- 
posed them ! " In whom we have redemption through 
his blood." (Eph. i. 7.) Sin has brought trouble and 
a curse into the world ; Jesus has sanctified the trouble 
and removed the curse. This he does for all who do 
not reject the only help of God's appointment. (Ps. 
Ixxxi. 11 ; John v. 40; Rom. viii. 7.) 



86 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



The Rev. Dr. Ives, whose house was on Oxford Road, and 
past which the criminals were carried weekly in carts to 
Tyburn, used to stand at his window and say to any young 
friends who might be near him, pointing out any of the most 
notorious malefactors, " There goes Dr. Ives !" If an expla- 
nation was asked, he took occasion to expound the innate cor- 
ruption of the human heart, and appealed to the experience 
of his auditors " whether they had not felt the movements of 
those very passions, errors, prejudices, lusts, revenge, covetous- 
ness, etc., whose direct tendency was to produce the crimes for 
which these offenders satisfied the claims of public justice, and 
which were solely prevented from carrying theni to the same 
dreadful fate by the restraining grace of God." 

• Question 18. — Wherein cotisists the sinfulness of 
that estate whereinto man fellf 

Answer. — The sinfulness of that estate whereinto 
man fell, consists in, the guilt of Adam's first sin, the 
want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his 
whole nature, which is commonly called original sin; 
together with all actual transgressions which proceed 
from it. 

GUILT. 

Guilt means obligation to punishment on account 
of sin. (Horn. vi. 23.) By Adam's sin his posterity 
became liable to the punishment denounced against 
himself. They became guilty through his guilt, which 
is imputed to them or placed to their account, so that 
they are treated as if they had personally broken the 
covenant. (Rom. v. 19.) It is not satisfactory to say 
that they are treated as sinners, although they are not 
really such, because the question naturally follows, 
How can they be justly treated as sinners if they are 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 87 



not guilty ? and the question is unanswerable. " The 
judgment was by one," or by one offence, " to condem- 
nation." (Rom. v. 16.) Here we have an act of judg- 
ment ascribed to God — who always judges according to 
truth — the ground upon which it proceeded, the one 
offence, the deed of one man, and the sentence express- 
ed in the term condemnation. The apostle expresses 
the same mournful truth by saying again, " Through 
the offence of one many are dead." (Rom. v. 15.) 
Besides, it is the doctrine of Paul that death came 
upon us by the sin of Adam — not accidentally or natu- 
rally, but by the operation of law. (Rom. v. 12.) But 
this cannot be true if the imputation of Adam's guilt 
be denied, for thousands of the human race die in in- 
fancy before they are capable of committing actual 
sin. (See Rom. v. 14.) How are all men guilty of 
Adam's first sin ? On account of their legal union. 
(1 Cor. xv. 22.) As the righteousness of Christ, the 
second Adam, is imputed to all believers, so the sin of 
the first Adam is imputed to all his posterity. (Rom. 
v. 19.) 

THE WANT OF ORIGINAL RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

" Original sin," says Ursinus, " is the guilt of the 
whole human race on account of the fall of our first 
parents. It consists in a want of the knowledge of 
God and of his will in the mind, and of an inclination 
to those things which the law of God forbids, and an 
aversion to those things which it commands, resulting 
from the fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve, and 
from them made to pass over into all their posterity, 
thus corrupting our whole nature, so that all, on ac- 



88 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



count of this depravity, are subject to the eternal wrath 
of God, nor can we do anything pleasing to him, un- 
less forgiveness be obtained for the sake of the Son of 
God, our Mediator, and the Holy Ghost renew our na- 
ture. (Rom. v. 14 ; Ps. li. 7.) It comprehends, there- 
fore, these two things — exposure to eternal condemna- 
tion on account of the fall of our first parents, and a 
depravity of our entire nature since the fall. (Rom. 
v. 12.) Original righteousness was not only a con- 
formity of our nature with the law of God, but it also 
included divine acceptance and approbation. In the 
place of this conformity with the divine law we now 
have depravity, and in the place of this approbation, 
we have the displeasure of God, which has followed in 
consequence of the fall." (For proof of this see Rom. 
iii. 19; Gal. iii. 22; Ps. li. 5; Isa. i. 4; xlviii. 8; 
Rom. iii. 10; viii. 7; Hos. xi. 7; Rom. vii. 21, 23; 
iii. 23; Job xi. 12; Prov. xxii. 15.) 

THE CORRUPTION OF HIS WHOLE NATURE. 

Original sin has — 

1. Depraved the intellect As in the creation " dark- 
ness was upon the face of the deep " (Gen. i. 2), so with 
the understanding, darkness is upon the face of this 
deep. " The natural man receiveth not the things of 
the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him ; 
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually 
discerned " — " having the understanding darkened, be- 
ing alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance 
that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart." 
(1 Cor. ii. 14 ; Eph. iv. 18.) 

2. Defiled the heart. (Jer. xvii. 9 ; Eccles. ix. 3.) In 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 89 

the heart are legions of lusts, obduracy, infidelity, hy- 
pocrisy ; it boils as the sea with passion and revenge. 

3. The will. The sinner crosses God's will to fulfill 
his own. (Jer. xliv. 16-18.) There is a rooted enmity 
in his will against holiness. " The carnal mind is en- 
mity against God, for it is not subject to the law of 
God, neither indeed can be." " Ye will not come unto 
me that ye might have life." 

4. The affections. These are the lesser wheels, which 
are strongly carried by the will, the master-wheel. Our 
affections are misplaced, set on wrong objects. They are 
as a sick man's appetite, which craves the things which 
are noxious and hurtful to him. Their language con- 
stantly is, " Who will show us any good ?" — that is, 
earthly good. And they constantly lead every un- 
sanctified child of Adam to "worship and serve the 
creature more than the Creator, who is God over all, 
blessed for ever." 

5. The memory. It is prone to retain what is vain 
and unprofitable, and to drop its hold on what is spirit- 
ual and truly advantageous. It is mentioned as a gen- 
eral characteristic of the wicked that they " forget 
God," that " God is not in all their thoughts ;" and ex- 
perience abundantly confirms this truth. 

6. The conscience. Sometimes it is violated till it 
becomes seared " as with a hot iron." But when this 
is not the case, it too often performs its office imper- 
fectly, not reproving and condemning when it ought, 
especially for secret sins. Sometimes it is so per- 
verted that it calls evil good and good evil, puts light 
for darkness and darkness for light. (Isa. v. 20.) 

(See Eph. iv. 18 ; 1 Cor. ii. 14; Isa. xlviii. 4; Job 



90 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



xxi. 15 ; Gen. viii. 21 ; Jer. iv. 14 ; Eom. viii. 7 ; Tit. 
i. 15 ; John iii. 6 ; Job xiv. 4 ; Ps. v. 5 ; Eom. v. 14.) 

In regard to our bodies, which are the instruments 
of corrupting the soul, and which are called " the flesh," 
and are represented as the seat and source of sin, they 
have become mortal in consequence of sin; they are 
polluted and defiled in all their members. Hence the 
apostolic caution, " Neither yield ye your members as 
instruments of unrighteousness unto sin." (Rom. vi. 13.) 

ACTUAL transgressions. 

Actual sin is distinguished from original, as the act is 
distinguished from the habit, or a fault of a person from 
a fault of the nature. Omission of what is required is 
an actual sin, because all omissions are either accom- 
panied with some act of the will consenting directly or 
indirectly to them, or they flow from some antecedent 
act which is either the cause or occasion of omitting 
the duty required. 

Original sin is the cause of all actual sins. It is the 
womb in which all actual sins are conceived. Hence 
come murders, adulteries, rapines, envies, hatred, mal- 
ice, pride, covetousness and every evil work. (Mark 
vii. 21.) It is the Trojan horse out of which a whole 
army of impieties come. (Matt. vii. 18 ; Ps. lviii. 3.) 
Original sin produces actual sin naturally. (See Jer. 
vi. 7 ; Jude 15.) 

REFLECTIONS. 

One sin may have many sins in it. We are apt 
to have slight thoughts of sin, aud ask, " Is it not a 
little one?" How many sins were in Adam's sin? Oh 
take heed of any sin ! " There was but one crack in 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 91 



the lantern, and the wind has found it and blown 
out the candle. How great a mischief one unguarded 
point of character may cause us ! One spark blew up 
the magazine and shook the whole country for miles 
around. One leak sunk the vessel and drowned all 
on board. One wound may kill the body, one sin de- 
stroy the soul." 

A caviler once asked Dr. Nettleton, " How came I by my 
wicked heart?" "That," he replied, "is a question which 
does not concern you so much as another — namely, how you 
should get rid of it. You have a wicked heart, which renders 
you entirely unfit for the kingdom of God, and you must have 
a new heart or you cannot be saved ; and the question which 
now most deeply concerns you is, how you shall obtain it?" 
As the man manifested no wish to hear anything on that sub- 
ject, but still pressed the question how he came by his wicked 
heart, Dr. Nettleton told him that his condition resembled that 
of a man who is drowning, while his friends are attempting to 
save his life. As he rises to the surface of the water he ex- 
claims, "How came I here?" "That question does not con- 
cern you now; take hold of this rope." "But how came I 
here?" he asks again. "I shall not stop to answer that ques- 
tion now," replies his friend. " Then I'll drown," says the 
infatuated man, and, spurning all proffered aid, sinks to the 
bottom. 

Dr. Milne says of Boston's Fourfold State, "It conducted me 
to my own heart, discovered the evils which before lay hid in 
the chambers of imagery, the monstrous ingratitude to God 
which had marked all my conduct, and the pollution of orig- 
inal and actual sin with which my soul was contaminated. I 
saw that I was necessarily under the strongest and most right- 
eous obligations to God, and had never for one hour of my life 
discharged these, but lived in rebellion against the Author of 
my life ; so I was justly under the curse of God's righteous 
law and exposed to everlasting misery." 



92 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



Question 19. — What is the misery of that estate 
whereinto man fell? 

Answer. — All mankind, by their fall, lost communion 
with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made 
liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to 
the pains of hell for ever. 

Man's misery by the fall consists in three things : 1. 
In what man has lost. 2. In what man is brought 
under. 3. In what man is liable to. 

X. JLOST COMMUNION WITH GOD. 

By " communion " here is meant friendship, fellow- 
ship and favor. Before the fall Adam had the most 
delightful intimacy, the most pure and sublime inter- 
course, with his Maker in the uninterrupted enjoyment 
of his gracious presence. Of this he was instantly and 
totally deprived by the fall. He feared and fled from 
the presence of God, and vainly attempted to hide 
himself among the trees of the garden. (See Gen. iii. 
8 ; Ps. v. 4, 5.) 

" Behold him now, 
So lately rich in happiness and blessed 
With converse of the living God, o'erwhelmed 
In misery, and tortured by the stings 
Of conscious guilt." 

From that unhappy hour till the present man in 
his natural state has no desire after communion with 
God. (Ps. x. 4; Job xxi. 14; 2 Cor. vi. 14; Amos iii. 
3; Eph. ii. 12; iv. 18; see Gen. iii. 24.) God is 
our chief good, and in communion with him consists 
man's chief happiness ; therefore the loss of this com- 
munion is man's greatest loss. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 93 
IT. TINT) EM HIS WRATH AND CURSE. 

What is it to be under the "wrath" of God? To 
be under his anger in the sad and dismal effects of it, 
whether in a more visible or more secret way. (Ps. xi. 
6 and 1. 21.) What is it to be under his " curse " ? 
To be under the sentence of his law denouncing all 
evil upon the transgressor. (Gal. iii. 10 ; Kom. i. 18 ; 
Eph. v. 6 ; Isa. lix. 5 ; Eph. ii. 2 ; Gal. iii. 10 ; Prov. 
iii. 33.) 

What shall we say of the heathen ? Are they also 
condemned ? Paul says of them : " For as many as 
have sinned without law, shall also perish wuthout 
law." (Rom. ii. 12.) It is true they did not have the 
law as the Jews had, and they have not heard the 
gospel as we have. But they will not be tried by a 
law which was never given to them, nor condemned 
for not believing a gospel which was never preached 
to them. The light which they had will be the stand- 
ard by which they will be tried. Tried by that, how- 
ever, they are already found guilty before God. If 
they are not guilty, then the darkness of heathenism is 
a blessing ; and why jeopard their salvation by send- 
ing the gospel to them, and thereby exposing them to 
the perils of rejecting it ? As to infants, we believe 
that all infants dying in infancy are saved. " But 
saved from what? To affirm that infants are saved is 
to affirm that they need a Saviour. To admit that 
they need a Saviour is to allow that they are sinners, 
for Christ came to save sinners. We believe that they 
are saved, for we believe that they are redeemed by 
the blood of Christ and regenerated by the Holy 
Ghost. Sharing in the curse of sin, they also share in 



94 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

the song of the redeemed." How terrible is the wrath 
of God ! This wrath is not a passion as in us, but an 
act of God's holy will, whereby he abhors sin and de- 
crees to punish it. How did Haman's heart tremble 
when the king rose up from the banquet in wrath ! 
(Esth. vii. 7.) But God's wrath is infinite ; all other 
is but as a spark to a flame. " Who knoweth the 
power of thine anger?" (Ps. xc. 11.) 

III. All 3IISEB1ES IN THIS LIFE. 

Man is subject in this world to many inward and 
outward miseries. (See Job xx. 22 ; Eccles. i. 2.) We 
come into this world with a cry, and go out with a 
groan. (Ps. xc. 10. See also Job v. 7.) Whence all 
our calamities — sorrows, sicknesses, bereavements, fears 
and disappointments — but from sin ? It is on account 
of sin that God has inflicted all these things upon the 
human race. (See Gen. iii. 17-19 ; Ps. xxxviii. 3 ; 
Jer. v. 25 ; Rom. viii. 20 ; 1 John iv. 18.) 

DEATH ITSELF. 

What death is here intended? The death of the 
body. Of this sin is the cause (Gen. iii. 19 ; Rom. v. 
12 ; vi. 23) and the sting. (1 Cor. xv. 55, 56.) There 
is an inseparable connection between sin and death 
by the appointment of a righteous God. (Ezek. xviii. 
4; Heb. ix. 27; Job xxiv. 19.) Is death a punish- 
ment to all upon whom it is inflicted ? To this we re- 
ply : 1. Though death be the consequence of sin in all, 
yet to believers through Christ it is without a sting, 
and it is an outlet from misery and an inlet to glory. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 95 



"Death has no terrors for the Christian's soul ; 
His sting's extracted, and his mighty dart 
Was blunted by its task on Calvary." 

2. Death to the wicked and unbelievers is a dread- 
ful punishment, being a king of terrors, as the grim 
messenger sent to arrest the wicked and convey them 
into future misery. (Prov. xiv. 32.) 

THE PAINS OF II EI L. 

Do not sinners receive all their punishment in this 
world ? No. " After this the judgment." (Heb. ix. 
27.) We are warned to " nee from the wrath to come." 
(Matt. iii. 7. See also xxiii. 33 ; Rom. ii. 8, 9 ; Luke 
xii. 5 ; Heb. ii. 3.) 

The pirate Gibbs, whose name was for many years a terror 
to commerce with the West Indies and Sonth America, was at 
last taken captive, tried, condemned and executed in the city 
of New York. He acknowledged before his death that when 
he committed the first murder and plundered the first ship his 
compunctions were severe; conscience was on the rack and 
made a hell within his bosom. But after he had sailed for 
years under the black flag, his conscience became so hardened 
and blunted that he could rob a vessel and murder all 
its crew, and then lie down and sleep as sweetly at night as 
an infant in its cradle. His remorse diminished as his crimes 
increased. So it is generally. If, therefore, remorse in this 
life is God's way of punishing crimes, the more they sin the 
less he punishes them ! How absurd ! 

How is hell represented in the Scriptures ? " The 
breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth 
kindle it." (Isa. xxx. 33.) "Their worm dieth not." 
(Mark ix. 44.) " Between us and you there is a great 



96 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



gulf fixed." (Luke xvi. 26.) " These shall go away 
into everlasting punishment." (Matt. xxv. 46.) " It 
is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living 
God." (Heb. x. 31 ; Isa. xxxiii. 14.) 

FOB EVE It. 
" That mysterious thing, 
Which hath no limit from the walls of sense — 
No chill from hoary time — with pale decay 
No fellowship — but shall stand forth unchanged, 
Unscorched, amid the resurrection-fires, 
To hear its boundless lot of good or ill." 

A lady, having spent the afternoon and evening at cards and 
in gay company, when she came home found her servant-maid 
reading a pious book. She looked over her shoulders and said, 
"Poor melancholy soul ! what pleasure canst thou find in por- 
ing so long over that book ?" That night the lady could not 
sleep, but lay sighing and weeping very much. Her servant 
asked her once and again what was the matter. At length she 
burst out into a flood of tears, and said, " Oh ! it is one word I 
saw in your book that troubles me ; there I saw the word eter- 
nity ! Oh how happy should I be if I were prepared for eter- 
nity !" The consequence of this impression was that she laid 
aside her cards, forsook her gay company and set herself seri- 
ously to prepare for another world. 

Mrs. Susan Huntington of Boston in a letter to a friend 
thus writes : " I am afraid I have never been brought truly to 
submit all things to the disposal of God, especially to submit to 
his righteousness in the condemnation of sinners. I fear I 
have never yet seen aught of the dreadful evil of sin, and that 
this is the source of the misgivings I sometimes experience as 
to its just desert of eternal punishment. But Jehovah is — I 
know he is — righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works ; 
and he has said that the wicked shall be turned into hell, 
where the worm dieth not and the fire shall never be quenched. 
Hush, then, every murmuring, doubting thought, every rebel- 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 97 



lious, discontented feeling ! Oh for deeper views of the vileness, 
the exceeding vileness, of sin — for stronger and more abiding 
confidence in the rectitude and the goodness of God !" 

What should all this teach us ? To flee from the 
coming wrath to the New Testament altar, the satis- 
faction and intercession of Christ, there being no name 
by which we can be saved from sin and wrath except 
the name of Jesus only. (Acts iv. 12.) 

Question 20. — Did God leave all mankind to perish 
in the estate of sin and misery t 

Answer. — God, having, out of his mere good pleasure, 
from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter 
into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate 
of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of 
salvation, by a Redeemer. 

A young person, riding one day with a friend, asked him, 
" What is your opinion of election, sir ?" His friend judi- 
ciously replied, "Stephen, you have learned fractions, decimals, 
etc. ; do you understand them?" " Yes, sir." " Do you think 
when you were in addition you could ?" "No sir." " Neither 
can you, my dear boy, at present comprehend the deep things 
of God." The youth appeared much interested, and during 
the remainder of the journey he seemed to be absorbed in his 
own reflections. 

It may not be questioned that God might justly have 
left all mankind to perish in their fallen state. As 
the righteous Governor of the world he might have 
proceeded to uphold the authority of his law by exe- 
cuting its penalty upon the disobedient, and to give 
an awful example of vengeance to the intelligent in- 
habitants of the various provinces of his empire. His 
7 



98 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

goodness does not require that he should rescue his 
rebellious subjects from the misery which they had 
brought upon themselves, because he had already 
given an ample display of it in their creation, and it 
was still exhibited in the happiness diffused through 
all the regions of innocence. Nor would he have been 
a loser by it if they had all been left to perish. (Job 
xxii. 2 ; Ps. cxliii. 2.) Instead of pursuing this course, 
however, " the kindness and love of God our Saviour 
toward man appeared." (Titus iii. 4. See also 2 Pet. 
iii. 9 ; Ezek. xxxiii. 11.) 

ELECTED SOME TO EVERLASTING LIFE. 

" There is a remnant according to the election of 
grace." (Rom. xi. 5 ; 2 Thess. ii. 13 ; Phil. iv. 3 ; Rev. 
xiii. 8 ; Acts xiii. 48 ; John vi. 37.) 

Mr. Winter was out in company with an Arminian, who 
spoke violently against the doctrine of election. "You be- 
lieve election," said Mr. Winter, "as firmly as I do." "I 
deny it," answered the other ; " on the contrary, it is a doctrine 
I detest." " Do you believe that all men will be saved on the 
last day, or some only?" "Only some." "Do you imagine 
that those some will be found to have saved themselves ?" 
" No, certainly. God in Christ is the only Saviour of sinners." 
"But God could have saved the rest, could he not?" "No 
doubt." "Then salvation is peculiar to the saved?" "To be 
sure." "And God saves them designedly, and not against his 
will?" "Certainly." " And willingly suffers the rest to per- 
ish, though he could easily have hindered it ?" " It should 
seem so." "Then is not this election? It amounts to the 
same thing." 

FROM ALL ETEJRNLTT. 

" He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation 
of the world." (Epb. i. 4; ix. 11; 2 Tim. i. 9 ; 1 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 99 



Thess. v. 9. See also Kom. viii. 30 ; ix. 11-13 ; Eph. 
i. 11 ; John vi. 39.) 

OUT OF HIS 31 ERE GOOD PIEASURE. 

(2 Tim. i. 9 ; John xv. 16 ; Eph. i. 5, 11 ; Kom. ix. 
15, 18 ; xi. 33.) Election does not result from faith 
foreseen. We are not elected for holiness, but to 
holiness. (Eph. i. 4.) We are not justified for faith, 
but through faith as an instrument (Eph. ii. 8) ; not 
for faith as a cause, but as & medium, and if not justi- 
fied for faith, then much less elected. " As many as 
were ordained to eternal life, believed." (Acts xiii. 48.) 
They were not elected because they believed, but they 
believed because they were elected. "(Eph. i. 4-6.) 
" As God (says our Confession of Faith, chap iii. sec. 
vi.) hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hath he, by 
the eternal and most free purpose of his will, foreor- 
dained all the means thereunto." (Eph. i. 4 ; ii. 10 ; 2 
Thess. ii. 13.) 

An old writer well says : " Hast thou an heart to 
pray to God ? It is a sign no decree of wrath hath 
passed against thee." 

DID ENTER INTO A COVENANT OF GRACE. 

A covenant is an agreement between two parties 
who come under mutual engagements. Something is 
to be done by one of the parties, in consequence of 
which the other binds himself to do another thing in 
return. How do we know that there was a covenant 
transaction entered into for the salvation of all those 
that are ordained unto life? (Ps. lxxxix. 3. See also 
Kom. viii. 3 ; Isa. xlii. 6 ; Tit. iii. 4, 5, 6, 7 ; Gal. iii. 
21 ; Kom. iii. 20, 21, 22.) What is this covenant 



100 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



called ? I. The covenant of peace (Ezek. xxxvii. 26), 
because it seals up reconciliation between God and 
bumble sinners. II. A covenant of grace. It is thus 
named — 1. Because it was with free, sovereign, rich 
grace or favor that, when we had forfeited the first 
covenant, God should enter into a new covenant after 
we had cast away ourselves. 2. Because it is all made 
up of terms of grace : that God will cast our sins 
behind his back, that he will love us freely (Hos. 
xiv. 4), and that he will give us a will to accept of 
the mercy of the coveuant and strength to perform 
the conditions of the covenant. (Ezek. xxxvii. 26.) 

TH E COVENANT MADE WITH C Hit 1ST. 

With whom was the covenant of grace made? As 
the covenant of works was made with the first Adam, for 
himself and his posterity, so the covenant of grace was 
made with Christ, the second Adam, and in him with 
all the elect as his seed, which are the Israel of God. 
(Gal. iii. 16 ; Heb. vii. 22 ; viii. 6, 10 ; xiii. 20. See 
also Kom. v. 15 ; Isa. xlii. 6 ; liii, 10, 11 ; Tit. i. 2.) 
Was it the same covenant which was made with 
Christ and the elect ? No ; for there was a covenant 
made with Christ as mediator and the representative 
of the elect, which was the foundation of all that grace 
which was afterward promised in that covenant of grace 
that the Father made with themselves in and through 
Christ. (See Luke xxii. 29 ; Heb. vii. 22; Gal. iii. 16, 
17; Ps. cxix. 122; Isa. xxxviii. 14; Zech. vi. 13.) 

CONDITION OF THE COVENANT. 

The covenant of grace is strictly conditional as to 
the Surety (Isa. xlix. 3), but is absolutely free to the 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 101 

sinner. (Jer. xxxi. 33, 34.) The proper condition of 
the covenant of grace is the fulfilling by Christ, as 
representative and surety, of all righteousness owing to 
God by his spiritual seed in virtue of the broken cove- 
nant of works. (Matt. iii. 15 ; Phil. ii. 2 ; iii. 8, 9 ; Gal. 
iii. 13 ; Eph. v. 2 ; Rom. v. 21.) The means by which 
the elect have an actual interest in the things promised 
in the covenant of grace is faith. (John iii. 16 ; Acts 
xvi. 31.) Is not faith a condition of such an interest? 
No ; it is promised in the covenant itself (Zech. xii. 
10), and therefore cannot be the condition of it. True, 
it is said that Abraham's faith " was counted unto him 
for righteousness " (Rom. iv. 3), but it was the object 
upon which his faith terminated, and not his faith itself, 
which was counted to him for righteousness. Faith is 
an instrument and gift, and is necessary, as such, sav- 
ingly to interest us in Christ (John i. 12), and to de- 
termine us to acquiesce in his fulfilling the condition 
of the covenant for us. (Isa. xlv. 24.) The covenant 
of works made with Adam ran all upon " working," 
the covenant made with Christ, upon "believing." 
(Rom. iv. 5.) In the first covenant, works were re- 
quired as the condition of life ; in the second, they are 
required as the evidences of life ; in the first, for the 
justification of our persons ; in the second, for the 
attestation of our grace. (Tit. iii. 8.) 

BY A. HEJDEEMEH. 

(Acts iv. 12 ; John iii. 16. See also Gen. iii. 15 ; 
Ps. ex. 1-4 ; Isa. liii. 3, 12.) 

TO DELIVER THJE3I, ETC. 

(See on Questions 17, 18 and 19, John iii. 16.) " He 



102 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." (John 
iii. 36.) Nothing more than this can be desired. 
" This is all my salvation and all my desire." (2 Sam. 
xxiii. 5.) 

METHODS OF TRIAL. 

We may try whether we are the covenant people of 
God by the three following particulars : 1. Humility. 
(1 Pet. v. 5 ; Phil. ii. 3 ; Ps. xxii. 6.) 2. Willingness, 
(Ps. ex. 3.) 3. Consecration. (Deut. vii. 6 ; John x. 4.) 

HOW TO BJE IN COVENANT WITH GOD. 

1. Seeking him by prayer. (Zech. xiii. 9.) 2. Break- 
ing off the covenant with sin. (1 Sam. vii. 3.) 3. Get- 
ting faith in the blood of Christ. (Eph. ii. 13. See 
Rev. xxii. 17.) 

From my childhood my mind had been full of objections 
against the doctrine of God's sovereignty in choosing whom 
he would to eternal life, and rejecting whom he pleased, leav- 
ing them eternally to perish and be everlastingly tormented in 
hell. It used to appear a horrible doctrine to me. But I re- 
member the lime very well when I seemed to be convinced 
and fully satisfied as to this sovereignty of God and his justice 
in thus eternally disposing of men according to his sovereign 
pleasure. But I never could give an account how or by what 
means I was thus convinced, not in the least imagining at the 
time that there was any extraordinary influence of God's Spirit 
in it. However, my mind rested in it, and it put an end to 
all these cavils and objections. — Jonathan Edwards. 

A certain individual said to the Eev. Dr. Nettleton, "I can- 
not get along with the doctrine of election." "Then," said he, 
"get along without it. You are at liberty to get to heaven the 
easiest way you can. Whether the doctrine of election is true 
or not, it is true that you must repent and believe and love 
God. Now, what we tell you is, that such is the wickedness 
of your heart that you never will do these things unless God 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 103 



has determined to renew your heart. If you do not believe 
that your heart is so wicked, make it manifest by complying 
with the terms of salvation. Why do you stand caviling with 
the doctrine of election ? Suppose you should prove it to be 
false, what have you gained ? You must repent and believe 
in Christ after all. Why do you not immediately comply 
with these terms of the gospel? W T hen you have done this 
without the aid of divine grace, it will be soon enough to 
oppose the doctrine of election. Until you shall have done 
this, we shall still believe that the doctrine of election lies at 
the foundation of all hope in your case." 

Question 21. — Who is the Redeemer of God's elect f 
Answer. — The only Redeemer of God's elect is the 
Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, 
became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and 
man, in two distinct natures, and one person, for ever. 

JESUS CHMIST. 

The name Jesus, or, as the Hebrews pronounce it, 
Jehoshua or Joshua, signifies he zvho shall save. (Matt, 
i. 21.) Christ is a Greek word, answering to the 
Hebrew Messiah, the consecrated or anointed one. 
(Heb. i. 9 ; John i. 41 ; Acts x. 38.) 

REDEEMER. 

This name is given by way of eminence to Jesus 
Christ, the Saviour of the world, because he redeems 
or delivers mankind from the bondage and burden of 
their sins. (Isa. lix. 20 ; Job xix. 25.) As this title 
implies, we were by nature in bondage and captivity 
to sin, Satan, the world, death and hell, through the 
breach of the first covenant, hence called lawful cap- 
tives. (Isa. xlix. 24 ; 1.1.) Redemption is deliverance 
from bondage by means of a ransom. Thus Christ 



104 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



has ransomed sinners from their thraldom to the guilt 
and power of sin by dying in their place. (Rom. iii. 
24; Gal. iii. 13; 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20; 1 Pet. i. 18, 19; 
Eph. i. 7 ; Tit. ii. 14.) The Scriptures invariably at- 
tribute redemption to the death of Christ, which is the 
redemption price (Matt. xx. 28 ; 1 Tim. ii. 6 ; Rev. v. 
9) ; and though he was perfectly innocent, yet his 
being substituted for the guilty has nothing in it in- 
consistent with justice, especially since he voluntarily 
undertook to suffer and die, and since he had an abso- 
lute right over his own life, being both God and man. 
(John x. 18.) Christ is the only Redeemer. An angel 
could not have undertaken the work, for he charges 
his angels with folly. (Job iv. 18.) None but himself 
was capable of the vast undertaking. (See Isa. lxiii. 5 ; 
Acts iv. 12.) In addition to being Redeemer by pur- 
chase, Christ is so by conquest. (Isa. xlix. 25 ; Col. ii. 
15.) The name Lord belongs to both natures of 
Christ. His human nature paid the price of our re- 
demption by dying for us, and the divine gives and 
offers to the Father this price, and applies it unto us 
by the Spirit. (See Ps. lxxxiii. 18 ; Matt, xxviii. 18.) 

OF GOD'S EEECT. 

Christ " gave himself a ransom for all." (1 Tim. ii. 
6 ; John iii. 14, 15.) But he was in a special manner 
the Redeemer of God's elect. (John x. 15.) Their 
sanctification was particularly designed in Christ's 
undertaking. (John xvii. 19.) Their salvation was 
particularly designed in it. (John xvii. 2.) 

BEING THE ETERNAL SON OF GOD. 

(Matt. xvi. 16 ; Col. i. 17 ; Heb. i. 8 ; 1 John v. 20 ; 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 105 

Rom. ix. 5 ; Phil. ii. 6.) He is one with the Father. 
(John x. 30.) He is to be worshiped as God. (John 
v. 23 ; Heb. i. 6.) He was begotten by the Father 
before all worlds. (Ps. ii. 7.) He is the only-begotten 
Son of God. (John i. 14.) 

BECAME MAN. 

Our Lord subsisted in the Godhead, not only as a 
distinct but as a divine person, before he assumed our 
nature. (See John xvi. 28.) He had a personal glory 
with the Father before time. (John xvii. 5.) His go- 
ings forth as a divine person were before all worlds. 
(Mic. v. 2.) He did not only subsist as a distinct per- 
son before he became incarnate, but he was also adivine 
person. (John i. 1, 3 ; Phil. ii. 6-8.) This divine per- 
son, who was in the form of God, actually assumed our 
nature into union with his divine nature. (John i. 14 ; 
1 Tim. iii. 16.) The nature he assumed was our na- 
ture — not simply like ours, formed out of nothing, but 
made of the seed of David according to the flesh, bone 
of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. (Heb. ii. 14.) 
This was his own personal act. The Father, by the 
agency of the Spirit, prepared for him a body, but the 
act of assumption was exclusively his own. (Heb. ii. 
16.) It was necessary that Christ as Redeemer should 
become man — 1. That he might be capable of suffer- 
ing death for sinners. (Heb. ix. 22.) 2. That he 
might be their High Priest to reconcile them to God. 
(Heb. ii. 16, 17.) 

GOD AND MAN IN TWO DISTINCT NATURES. 

It was also necessary that Christ as Redeemer should 
be God as well as man — 1. Because he could not 



106 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

otherwise have borne up under the weight of wrath 
which was laid upon him for the sins of men ; and 2. 
Because his sufferings would have been but of finite 
extent, and so could not have made satisfaction to 
God's infinite justice, which was offended by sin. 
Though there is an intimate union between the two 
natures of our Lord, yet they are not confounded, nor 
their properties mixed. By this union his divine nature 
did not become finite, neither did his human nature 
become infinite. They continued to retain their 
distinct properties or attributes. They have distinct 
understandings and distinct wills, though their opera- 
tions are always in unison. Thus, though as God he 
knew all thiugs, yet as man he is said not to have 
known the day of judgment (Mark xiii. 32 ; Matt, 
xxiv. 36) ; and though as God he is omnipotent, 
yet as man he is said to have been crucified in 
weakness. (2 Cor. xiii. 4.) 

ONE PERSON, 

The union did not change our Lord's personal iden- 
tity. His person w r as one before he became incarnate, 
and it continued to be one after he w r as manifested in 
the flesh. The Son given, and the Child born, are one 
person. The incarnation produced no change in his 
divine person. Such a change would have been incom- 
patible with his true and proper divinity. The change 
was purely relative. He who, previous to his incarna- 
tion, subsisted simply as a divine person, had, posterior 
to it, a human nature subsisting in his divine person 
by a personal union. (See Isa. ix. 6 ; Rom. ix. 5 ; Matt, 
i. 23 ; John i. 14.) 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 107 



FOR EVER. 

" Because he continueth for ever, he hath an un- 
changeable priesthood." (Heb. vii. 24.) The union of 
the divine and human nature in Christ will never be 
dissolved. This union is an everlastiug security for 
the perpetuity of the union between Christ and believers, 
for he has said, " Because I live ye shall live also." 
(John xiv. 19.) 

At a weekly meeting for religious conversation, some South 
Sea Island converts (as Kev. John Williams informs us) thus 
talked with each other concerning Christ: "Give us some 
other proof that he was God," said another. "The various 
miracles that he wrought," was the reply. " But did not 
Peter and all the apostles work miracles?" "Yes, but they 
did their miracles with borrowed power ; and when they re- 
turned, did they not tell Jesus that they did all in his name 
and not in their own ?" Another said, " Is not the star that 
led the wise men from the East a proof of the divinity of 
Jesus?" "But, if really God, would he have been laid in a 
manger?" "Yes," said another, "for did he not humble 
himself and lay aside his glory as God? If he had come in 
his glory, would not man have exceedingly feared ? We 
know what Moses said." Another said he believed Christ 
was God, because he said, " I and my Father are one ;" 
and "I am the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last." 
Another believed it "because he is to judge the world, and 
must therefore be God." Another said, " He himself has 
promised where two or three are met in my name, there am I 
in the midst of them, and I will be with you always, even to 
the end of the world. Now, how can he fulfill these promises? 
While we are gathered here to worship and pray, others are 
gathered in distant lands — some in Britain — and how can he be 
with them all if he is not God ?" 

Question 22. — How did Christ, being the Son of 
God, become man f 



108 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



Answer. — Christ, the Son of God, became man, by 
taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul ; be- 
ing conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in- the 
womb of the virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without 
sin. 

In referring to the subject of this answer an able 
writer says : " What is the greatest wonder that the 
world ever saw ? The incarnation of the Son of God. 
The word was made flesh and dwelt among us." (John 
i. 14.) Two natures infinitely distinct and united in one 
person. Astonishing, glorious, mysterious fact ! Well 
might the inspired apostle in contemplating it exclaim, 
" Without controversy, great is the mystery of godli- 
ness ; God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the 
Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, be- 
lieved on in the world, received up into glory." (1 Tim. 
iii. 16.) 

CHRIST THE SON OF GOD BECAME MAN. 

" Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of 
flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of 
the same." (Heb. ii. 14.) 

A TRUE BODY. 

It was a voluntary act in Christ the Son of God to 
become man. He took on him the human nature that 
he might be thereby fitted to be our Kedeemer. (Heb. 
x. 6, 7 ; ii. 14, 16.) It was real flesh he took, not the 
mere shape, image and appearance of a human body, 
as some ancient heretics alleged. Hence he is called 
man and the Son of man. He was conceived and 
born, he was subject to hunger, thirst and weariness, 
like other men ; he was crucified, dead, buried, and 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 109 



rose again, none of which could be affirmed of him if 
he had not had a true or real body. (See Luke xxiv. 
39.; Ps. lxxx. 17 ; Matt. i. 20, 25 ; Gal. iv. 4 ; Heb. x. 
5 ; Kom. viii. 3 ; John i. 1.) 

A M> A REASONABLE SOUL. 

That Christ took a rational soul is evident from 
the fact that this is expressly mentioned by himself, 
when he said in his agony, " My soul is exceeding sor- 
rowful, even unto death " (Matt. xxvi. 38), and when 
on the cross he committed his soul to his Father. Be- 
sides, there is the same evidence that he possessed this 
essential part of our nature as there is that it belongs 
to any other man, his thoughts, his reasonings, his 
feelings, his affections, his joys and sorrows, his hopes 
and fears, being all indications of the existence of that 
living and intelligent principle, of the operation of 
which we are conscious in ourselves, and to which 
we give the name of the soul. (See Heb. iv. 15 ; Isa. 
liii. 10.) 

BEING CONCEIVED, ETC. 

(Gal. iv. 4, 5.) Was there no other way for the re- 
storing of fallen man but this, that God should take 
flesh ? " We must not," says an old writer, " ask a 
reason of God's will ; it is dangerous to pry into God's 
ark ; we are not to dispute, but adore. The wise God 
saw this the best way for our redemption, that Christ 
should be incarnate ; it was not fit for any to satisfy 
God's justice but man ; none could do it but God ; 
therefore, Christ being both God and man, he is the 
fittest to undertake this work of redemption." What 
was the peculiar agency of each person of the adorable 



110 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



Trinity in this wonderful work ? The Father prepares 
a body or human nature for the Son (Heb. x. 5) : the 
Holy Ghost forms it, by his overshadowing power (Luke 
i. 35) ; and the Son assumes the entire human nature to 
himself. (Heb. ii. 14, 16. See also Gen. iii. 15 ; Gal. iv. 
4 ; Gen. xii. 2 ; John viii. 28.) 

BORJY OF THE VIRGIN MART. 

Why was Christ born of the Virgin Mary? 1. Be- 
cause this had been predicted. (Isa. vii. 14 ; Gen. iii. 
15 ; Matt. i. 23 ; Luke i. 34, 35.) 2. Because Christ 
was to be a High Priest, pure and holy. Had he been 
born after the ordinary course of nature, he had been 
defiled. By his birth he was kept free from the con- 
tagion of original sin, which is conveyed to all Adam's 
posterity by natural generation. 3. That the truth of 
the human nature assumed by the Son of God might 
thus be signified. 4. That we may know that Christ 
has descended from the fathers, from whom Mary 
also was — that is to say, that he was the true seed 
of Abraham, being born from his seed, and that he 
was the Son of David, being born from the daughter 
of David, according to the prophecies and promises. 
5. That the birth of Christ might be a sign of our 
spiritual regeneration, which is not of blood, nor of ; 
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of 
God. 

When was Christ born ? " When the fullness of time 
was come " (Gal. iv. 4) ; that is, the determinate time 
that God had set. More particularly, this fullness of 
time was, when all the prophecies of the coming of the 
Messiah were accomplished, and all legal shadows and 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. Ill 



figures, by which he was typified, were abrogated, and 
the world prepared for his coming by the providence 
of God. 

WITHOUT SIN. 

(Luke i. 31 ; Heb. iv. 15. See 1 Pet, ii. 22 ; Heb. 
vii. 26.) Christ could not have satisfied for our sin 
if he had had any sins of his own, for he must through 
the eternal Spirit offer himself without spot, (Heb. vii. 
26 ; ix. 14.) 

WHY WAS CflJilST INCARNATE? 

1. As a deep humiliation. He " emptied himself." 
As he became the substitute and representative of 
sinners, it was necessary that he should take the hum- 
ble rank of the guilty. He descended, therefore, from 
the height of heaven to the humblest condition of 
earth. 

2. That he might familiarize himself with the hu- 
man condition, as a 'qualification for his office as our 
High Priest. The compassion of his Godhead resulted 
from the perfection of his nature, his feelings of hu- 
manity from personal experience, and both together 
form one fit and sympathizing High Priest, and lay a 
foundation for our trust under all the sorrows and 
trials of life. (See Heb. ii. 11-18.) 

3. To embody and exemplify his own religion. In 
the entire spirit and conduct of our Lord we see his 
doctrine living and acting. He hath left us an exam- 
ple that we should tread in his steps. (1 John ii. 6 ; 2 
Pet. ii. 21.) His example was divine, and yet human 
■ — a perfect model. 

4. The crowning purpose of our Lord's incarnation 



112 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



was, that he might suffer for the sins of men. He 
was " made flesh " that he might hunger and thirst, 
endure the contempt of the people, weep over Jerusa- 
lem, feel the hour and the power of darkness, agonize 
in the garden, and die upon the cross, and thus pay the 
penalty, the rigid satisfaction, death for death, and re- 
deem a guilty world. 

In the year 1811 the Moravian missionaries in Labrador 
determined on the introduction of the gospel in the northern 
parts of that land. They embarked in company with a Chris- 
tian pilot whom they had obtained, named Jonathan. The 
sacrifices which this man made to accompany them were very 
great. At Hopedale he was considered the principal person 
or chief of his nation, but being made a partaker of the same 
spirit by which the missionary brethren were actuated, he was 
willing to sojourn among strangers, where he would have no 
pre-eminence, and to expose himself to unknown hardships 
and dangers, sustained only by the hope that the projected 
voyage might open the way for the introduction of the gospel 
among a portion of his countrymen still sitting in darkness 
and the shadow of death. When any of his countrymen rep- 
resented to him the danger of the expedition, he used to say, 
" Well, we will try, and shall know better when we get there ;" 
and once he said, " When I hear people talk about the danger 
of being killed, I think Jesus went to death out of love to us; 
what greater matter would it be if we were to be put to death 
in his service, should that be his good pleasure ?" So effectual- 
ly had he been taught that Christ died for all, that we who 
live should not henceforth live unto ourselves, but unto Him 
who died for us and rose again. Nor was this a mere empty 
boast ; this generous principle of devotedness to Jesus evidently 
actuated our Esquimaux captain during the severe trials of a 
most perilous voyage ; his cheerful, firm and faithful conduct 
under all circumstances being quite consistent with his Chris- 
tian profession. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 113 



Question 23. — What offices doth Christ execute as 
our Redeemer t 

Answer. — Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the 
offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in 
his estate of humiliation and exaltation. 

The general office with which our Redeemer was in- 
vested is that of Mediator between God and man. (1 
Tim. ii. 5. See on Question 29.) This mediatory 
office he always and invariably sustains, and the others 
are only particular and constituent parts of it ; that is, 
the office of Mediator is never laid aside or suspended 
by Christ when he acts as Prophet, Priest and King 
of his Church. Sin had separated between us and 
God, and sin could only be expiated by sacrifice ; hence 
the necessity of his priesthood. If he had not been a 
priest he could not have been a prophet and a king, 
it being evident that unless salvation had been obtain- 
ed for us it could not be revealed and applied. We 
are alienated from the life of God by the ignorance 
that is in us, because of the blindness of our hearts ; 
hence the necessity of Christ's prophetical office. We 
are under bondage to sin, Satan and the present evil 
world ; and not only captives, but also willing captives, 
and hence the necessity of his kingly office. Thus his 
official character is complete, as it is commensurate 
with the utmost extent of our miseries and wants. 
(See Col. i. 19 ; John iii. 34 ; Matt. xi. 27 ; John v. 22, 
26 ; xiv. 6.) 

OFFICES. 

Christ is a Redeemer in office. (1 Pet. i. 20 ; Acts v. 
31 ; John vi. 27 ; Heb. iii. 2.) 

8 



114 NOTES ON THE SHOBTEB, CATECHISM. 



CHRIST. 

Our Saviour is called in the Old Testament the 
Messiah, and in the New Testament the Christ, and 
both terms import that he was the Anointed One. 
This designation is given to him in allusion to the 
rite by which persons were consecrated to their offices 
under the former dispensation — namely, by being 
anointed with oil. This rite was observed in the case 
of the three offices which were most celebrated, those 
of prophet, priest and king. "We have an example of 
the first in Elisha ; of the second in Aaron and his 
sons ; and of the third in David and Solomon. In al- 
lusion to this rite our Redeemer was called the Messiah 
or the Christ, to signify, not that he was consecrated 
by the same rite, but that he was solemnly appointed 
to his office by his Father, and furnished with all the 
requisite qualifications. He was anointed, says the 
Scripture, " with the Holy Ghost." (Acts x. 38.) This 
anointing took place — 1. At his conception, when he 
was sanctified by the Holy Ghost, endowed with all 
the graces which can adorn human nature, and with 
those faculties which, being afterward developed, 
excited admiration even in his youth, for at the 
age of twelve he astonished the doctors of Jerusalem 
by his wisdom both in asking and answering questions. 
2. At his baptism. (Matt. iii. 16.) The Spirit coming 
down from the opened heavens in a visible form rested 
upon him, to signify, in conjunction with the voice 
which proceeded from the excellent glory, to all who 
were present, that God recognized him as his Son, and 
bestowed upon him an abundant measure of heavenly 
influences. In this manner he was publicly installed 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 115 



in his office and fitted for the discharge of his duties. 
(See Isa. xi. 2-5.) 

The particular offices to which our Saviour was 
anointed were the three already mentioned as existing 
among the Jews — the prophetical, the sacerdotal, and 
the regal. The first is ascribed to Christ in Deut. 
xviii. 14; the second in Ps. ex. 4; and the third in 
Ps. ii. 6. Here observe — 1. That the anointing re- 
lated to the human nature of the Saviour. The person 
of Christ was anointed in the human nature, which was 
the immediate receptacle of all gifts and graces (Ps. 
lxviii. 18) : " Thou hast received gifts for men ;" mar- 
gin, in the man — that is, in the human nature. 2. All 
these offices never centred in any one person but in 
Christ alone. In order, as it would appear, to show the 
unequaled dignity of our blessed and glorious Re- 
deemer, none of those who were typical of him under 
the Old Testament were ever clothed with them all. 
Melchisedec was a king and a priest, Moses was a ru- 
ler and a prophet, Jeremiah was a priest and a prophet, 
David was a king and a prophet, but Christ alone 
was prophet, priest and king. 

ESTATE OF HUMILIATION AND EXALTATION. 

To " execute " an office is to do or perform what 
belongs to the office. Christ executed all these offices — 
1. In his state of humiliation — that is, during his resi- 
dence here on earth. (See on Questions 27, 28. John 
xvii. 4.) 2. In his exaltation — that is, since he returned 
to heaven. (Heb. ix. 24.) Is he then an all-sufficient 
Saviour ? Yes. (Heb. vii. 25.) And is he as willing 
to save as he is able ? Yes. (John vi. 37.) 



116 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



THE ORDER ZJV WHICH THE OFFICES ARE 
EXECUTED. 

It should be observed that the order in which the 
offices of Christ are here stated, is the very order in 
which they are executed. In the salvation of the soul, 
as in the creation of our world, he commences with 
the diffusion of light. The knowledge of ourselves 
and of the Saviour is necessary to the production of 
faith, by which his righteousness is embraced as the 
only foundation of our acceptance with God. Con- 
version consists in "the opening of the blind eyes 
and the turning of the soul from darkness to light ;" 
and this is the work of his prophetical office. When 
our Prophet manifests himself to us by his word and 
Spirit in his mediatorial character, we come to him 
as our Priest whose sacrifice has expiated our guilt, 
and submit to him as our King whose service is per- 
fect liberty, and whose power will defend us from 
every evil. 

When faith closes with Christ, does it accept him 
in all his offices? Yes, for Christ is never divided. 
We must have him wholly or none of him. (John viii. 
24.) His investiture with this threefold office encour- 
ages us to employ him in every one of them, that in 
like manner as he is made over of God unto us, so we 
may actually have him for our "wisdom, righteousness, 
sanctification and redemption." (1 Cor. i. 30.) 

Clementine Cuvier. — This lovely, honored and accom- 
plished young lady says in a letter to a friend : " I want to 
tell you how happy I am. My heart has at length felt what 
my mind has long understood. The sacrifice of Christ answers 
to all the wishes and meets all the wants of my soul; and since I 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 117 



have been enabled to embrace with ardor all its provisions, 
my heart enjoys a sweet and incomparable tranquillity. 
Formerly, I vaguely assured myself that a merciful God 
would pardon me, but now I feel that I have obtained that 
pardon, that I obtain it every moment ; and I experience in- 
expressible delight in seeking it at the foot of the cross." 

Question 24. — How doth Christ execute the office of 
a prophet? 

Answer. — Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in 
revealing to us, by his word and Spirit, the will of God 
for our salvation. 

THE OFFICE OF A PROPHET. 

When we contemplate Jesus Christ simply as a 
divine person, we must consider him as the uncreated 
Source of all intelligence and wisdom. (John i. 9.) 
In his mediatorial character, however, he speaks uot 
properly in his own name, but in the name of Him 
who gave him his commission, and briugs to us his 
Father's message. Hence, we say that he was invested 
with the prophetical office, the term office implying 
that he acted a subordinate part and by the authority 
of another. (See his own declarations: John vii. 16, 
17 ; xii. 49, 50 ; Eev. i. 1.) 

NAMES GIVEN TO CHRIST AS A PROPHET. 

He is called — 1. "The Counsellor" (Isa. ix. 6), be- 
cause in him " are hid all the treasures of wisdom 
and knowledge." (Col. ii. 3 ; John xii. 46.) 2. " The 
Messenger of the Covenant." (Mai. iii. 1.) 3. "A 
Lamp." (2 Sam. xxii. 29.) 4. " The Morning Star." 
(Rev. xxii. 16.) 5. An "Apostle" (Heb. iii. 1), be- 
cause he is the great Ambassador of heaven sent to 



118 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



declare the will of God to men. 6. A " Witness " 
(Isa. lv. 4 ; Kev. iii. 14), because, being a son of Adam 
(Luke iii. 38), he was the more fit to attest the will 
of God to men, and being the eternal Son of God, was 
therefore liable to no error or mistake in his testimony. 
7. An " Interpreter," because the mystery of godliness 
lies so far beyond the reach of our natural understand- 
ing, that we could never savingly comprehend it unless 
the Son of God gave us an understanding "that we 
may know Him that is true." (1 John v. 20. See also 
Luke xxiv. 45 ; Isa. xlviii. 17 ; John iii. 2 ; Rev. xxii. 
6 ; Heb. i. 2 ; 1 Pet. i. 11 ; Matt. vii. 29.) 

FITJYFSS of c heist fob, mis pjrofmeticai 

WORK. 

Considered as God, he is in the bosom of the Father, 
and has the most perfect knowledge of his nature, per- 
fections and purposes, and when he unfolds these to 
men he testifies what he has seen. (John i. 18 ; Matt, 
xi. 27.) Viewed as man, he has a peculiar fitness for 
communicating these mysteries to the human race in 
such a way as to prevent them from losing the bene- 
fit of his instructions by his overwhelming majesty. 
(Heb. xii. 18-24.) With regard to Christ's official 
gifts, "it pleased the Fath'er that in him should all 
fullness dwell." (Col. i. 19.) The Divine Spirit, in 
his grace and gifts, was conferred first upon Christ 
as the Head of the Church to qualify him for his 
work in his assumed nature, and to be communicated 
by him to the members of his mystical body. (Isa. 
xi. 2, 3 ; John iii. 34.) He is full of grace and 
truth. (John i. 14. See Ps. xlv. 2 ; Isa. 1. 4 ; Luke 
iii. 21, 22.) 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 119 



JiY SIS WORD. 

We owe it entirely to our Lord Jesus Christ in his 
prophetic character that we have a Bible. (2 Pet. i. 
21.) But the blessed Spirit who proceedeth from the 
Father aud the Son is specially considered in this 
work as "the Spirit of Christ." (See 1 Pet. i. 10, 
11.) As the planetary stars that rule the night * 
shine in light borrowed from the sun, so the proph- 
ets derived all their light from the Sun of Right- 
eousness, and when he arose with healing under his 
wings their glory was eclipsed by his superior lustre. 
There is every reason to believe that all the appear- 
ances of Deity under that economy to converse with 
men were appearances, not of God in his absolute 
character or in the person of the Father or Spirit, 
but in the person of the Son and in the character 
of Mediator. At the close of the Jewish dispensa- 
tion Christ appeared in human nature as the Prophet 
of the Church. (Heb. i. 2; Col iii. 16 ; Matt. xiii. 16, 
17.) Nor did the exercise of his prophetical office 
terminate with his abode on earth. He continues by 
the written word and the ministers of the gospel, 
commissioned to act in his name, to speak to us from 
heaven. (Heb. xii. 25, 26.) 

AN J) SPIRIT. 

The Holy Spirit, by whose inspiration the sacred 
Scriptures were penned, opens the eyes of the human 
understanding to perceive the moral glory, beauty 
and excellence of divine truth, beyond any attain- 
ment made by mere learning or study without this 
heavenly aid. (Ps. cxix. 130 ; John xiv. 26 ; Isa. liv. 
13; 1 Cor. ii. 14.) 



120 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



THE WILT, OF GOD 

means the whole counsel of God, or whatever God 
would have us know, believe and do in order to sal- 
vation. In general, it may be observed that while 
Jesus corrected the false notions of religion and the 
perverse interpretations of the law of Moses which 
prevailed among the Jews, he unfolded the character 
of God in all its perfection, called the attention of 
men to the cultivation of piety and holiness as alone 
acceptable to him, exhibited himself as the Messiah 
whom they expected, and gave intimations of the 
design of his mission and the nature of the salva- 
tion which he had come to accomplish. 

FOR OUR SALVATION. 

Many kinds of knowledge can only amuse and in- 
struct, but that which Jesus communicates is designed 
to save the soul from the wrath of God and prepare it 
for the employments and enjoyments of heaven. (John 
xx. 31 ; Isa. xlix. 6.) 

FLOW MAY WE HAVE C Hit 1ST FOR OUR TEACHER? 

1. By seeing our need of his teaching. (Rev. iii. 18.) 
2. By going to him to teach us. (Ps. xxv. 5 ; Luke xi. 
1 ; Ps. xiii. 3.) 3. By waiting upon the means of 
grace which he has appointed. (Eph. iv. 11.) 4. By 
walking according to the knowledge which we have 
already. (John vii. 17.) 

The comforting influence of the precious truths of the Bible 
at a dying hour, was manifested in the case of a poor soldier 
who was mortally wounded at the battle of Waterloo. His 
companion conveyed him to some distance and laid him down 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 121 



under a tree. Before he left him the dying soldier entreated 
him to open his knapsack, and take out his pocket Bible, and 
read to him a small portion of it before he died. When asked 
what passages he should read, he desired him to read John 
xiv. 27 : " Peace I leave with you ; my peace I give unto you ; 
not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart 
be troubled, neither let it be afraid." "Now," said he, "I die 
happy. I desire to have peace with God, and I possess the 
peace of God which passeth all understanding." A little 
while after one of his officers passed him, and seeing him in 
such an exhausted state, asked him how he did. He said, "I 
die happy, for I enjoy the peace of God which passeth all 
understanding," and then expired. The officer left him and 
went into the battle, where he was soon after mortally wound- 
ed. When surrounded by his brother-officers, full of anguish 
and dismay, he cried out, "Oh, I would give ten thousand 
worlds, if I had them, that I possessed that peace which glad- 
dened the heart of a dying soldier whom I saw lying under 
a tree ! for he declared that he possessed that peace of God 
which passeth all understanding. I know nothing of this 
peace. I die miserable, for I die in despair." 

Question 25. — How doth Christ execute the office of 
a priest f 

Answer. — Christ executeth the office of a priest, in 
his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine 
justice, and reconcile us to God, and in making continual 
intercession for us. 

A priest is a public person who in the name of the 
guilty deals with an offended God for reconciliation 
by sacrifice, which he offers to God upon an altar, be- 
ing thereto called of God, that he may be accepted. 
A priest was needed to be an umpire, to mediate be- 
tween a guilty creature and a holy God. (Heb. v. 1— 
4.) All the priests of the Old Testament were types 



122 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



of Christ, yet the typical character of the high priest 
was the most notable of them all, because in him there 
were many things — as, for example, offering sacrifices 
and making intercession for the people — that repre- 
sented Christ, the true and great High Priest of the 
Church. 

CHRIST'S SUPERIORITY. 

The superiority of Christ as a priest over all who 
sustained that office in the Mosaic ritual is evident — ■ 
1. From the superiority of his nature and person. 
The Jewish priests were but men ; he was " the true 
God and eternal life." They were sinful men, and 
needed to offer " first for themselves and then for the 
people;" he had no sins of his own, but was holy, 
harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners. 2. 
From the manner of his investiture or installation. 
" Those priests were made without an oath, but this " 
— that is, Christ — "with an oath, by Him that said 
unto him, " The Lord sware, and will not repent, Thou 
art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec." 
By so much is Jesus made a surety of a better testa- 
ment. 3. From the efficacy and perfection of the 
sacrifice offered by our Redeemer. It was infinitely 
superior to those sacrifices which were but types of 
his. " It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of 
goats should take away sins. But this man, after he 
had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on 
the right hand of God. For by one sacrifice he hath 
perfected for ever them that are sanctified." 4. From 
the unchangeableness and perpetuity of the priestly 
office of Christ. " They truly were many priests, be- 
cause they were not suffered to continue, by reason of 



NOTES ON THE SHOKTEK CATECHISM. 123 



death: but this man, because he continueth ever, 
hath an unchangeable priesthood." 

DIVINELY APPOINTED. 

Christ was called and anointed by God to the office 
of priest. (See Heb. v. 4-6 ; vii. 21.) 

The priestly office of Christ has two parts: First, his 

SA TIS FACTION. 

This, again, consists of two branches — 1. His active 
obedience. (Matt. iii. 15.) He did everything which 
the law required, his holy life was a perfect com- 
mentary upon the law of God, and he obeyed the law 
for us. 2. His passive obedience, Our guilt being 
transferred and imputed to him, he suffered the penal- 
ty which was due to us. The paschal lamb slain was 
a type of Christ who was offered up in sacrifice for us. 
Sin could not be done away without blood. (Heb. ix. 
22.) Christ was not only a Lamb without spot, but a 
Lamb slain. How do we know that Christ, as priest, 
made atonement for sin? (Heb. ii. 17.) Did he do 
this by the sacrifice of himself? (Heb. ix. 26.) Was 
he himself the priest ? (Heb. ix. 14.) Was he himself 
the sacrifice? (Isa. liii. 10.) Was he himself the 
altar? (See Heb. xiii. 10.) Did Christ offer himself 
voluntarily ? (See John x. 18 ; Luke xxiii. 46.) Which 
of the two natures of Christ was the sacrifice ? The 
human nature, soul and body (Isa. liii. 10 ; Heb. x. 
10), which were actually separated by death. (John 
xix. 30.) 

For additional proof that Christ offered himself a 
sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and reconcile us to 



124 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



God, see Matt. xx. 28 ; Col. i. 20 ; Rom. v. 6 ; viii. 34; 
1 John ii. 2 ; 1 Pet. ii. 24 ; iii. 18 ; Rev. v. 9 ; xiii. 8. 

ONCE OFFERING. 

Christ only offered up himself once a sacrifice. (Heb. 
ix. 28.) This offering need not be repeated, because 
as once dying was the penalty of the law, so once suf- 
fering unto death was the complete payment of it in 
regard of the infinite dignity of the sufferer. (Heb. 
ix. 27, 28 ; x. 14.) 

The other part of Christ's priestly office is 

INTER CESSION. 

(Isa. liii. 12.) Our great High Priest, in his inter- 
cession, prays to and pleads with God, as our Advocate, 
that through the merit of his death we may be actually 
reconciled, our persons accepted, our sins pardoned, our 
consciences quieted, our prayers answered, and at last 
our souls saved. (1 John ii. 1 ; John xiv. 14.) This 
intercession is made for us at the right hand of God in 
heaven. (Rom. viii. 34.) And it is made for us con- 
tinually. Our Advocate never dies. 

FRACTICAI REFLECTIONS. 

1. In the bloody sacrifice of Christ see the horrid 
nature of sin. The sight of Caesar's bloody robe in- 
censed the Romans against them that slew him. The 
sight of Christ's bleeding body should fill us with 
hatred of sin. 2. In the sacrifice of Christ see God's 
justice and mercy displayed. (Rom. xi. 22.) 3. From 
the sufferings of Jesus learn his strong affection for 
sinners. 4. Let us by faith apply the blood of Christ 
to ourselves. (Phil. iii. 8.) 5. If Christ is our Inter- 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 125 



cessor, then we know where we must chiefly fix our 
eyes when we engage in prayer. 6. If Christ be pray- 
ing for us, then his Spirit is praying in us. (Gal. iv. 6; 
Rom. viii. 26.) By this interceding of the Spirit with- 
in us we may know that Christ is interceding above 
for us. 7. How sad the condition of the unbeliever ! 
He has none in heaven to speak a word for him. The 
law and conscience and the Judge are against him, and 
there is no friend to plead his cause. 

The gardener of Elizabeth (consort of Frederick II.) had one 
little daughter, with whose religious instruction he had taken 
great pains. When she was five years old, the queen met her 
one day, and was so ranch pleased with her that a short time 
after, the artless child, at the queen's request, was brought to 
the palace. She approached the queen with intaught courtesy, 
kissed her robe and modestly took her seat, which had been 
placed for her, by the queen's order, near her own person. 
From this position she could overlook the table at which the 
queen was dining with the ladies of the court, and they 
watched with interest to see the effect of so much splendor on 
the simple child. She looked carelessly on the costly dresses 
of the guests, the gold and porcelain on the table and the 
pomp with which all was conducted, and then, folding her 
hands, she sang with her clear, childish voice these words: 

" Jesus, thy blood and righteousness 
Are all my ornament and dress; 
Fearless, with these pure garments on, 
I'll view the splendor of thy throne." 

All the assembly were struck with surprise at seeing so much 
feeling, penetration and piety in one so young. Tears filled 
the eyes of the ladies, and the queen exclaimed, " Ah, happy 
child ! how far are we below you !" 

A soldier on furlough went into the office of a certain judge 



126 NOTES ON THE SHOBTEK CATECHISM. 



in an Eastern city and waited for an audience. The judge was 
most busily employed, and after giving a hasty glance at the 
suppliant resumed his work. The soldier, after one or two in- 
effectual attempt to secure his attention, placed an open letter 
before the judge. On glancing at the signature and perceiving 
it to be his son's, he paused at once and read the letter, while it 
besought him to show kindness to this sick comrade, who had 
gone home to die, "for Charlie's sake." The judge arose at 
once, took the poor soldier by the hand to his own home, and 
dressing him in a suit of "Charlie's" and giving him his va- 
cant room, showed him all possible attention, and took the 
greatest care of him, " for Charlie," his own dear son's, " sake." 
He said he could not do enough for him, because Charlie desired 
it. Our Advocate with the Father is the precious Son, to whom 
nothing can be refused. 

Question 26. — How doth Christ execute the office 
of a king f 

Answer. — Christ executeth the office of a king, in 
subduing us to himself, in riding and defending us, and 
in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies. 

CHRIST A KING. 

That Christ is a King is everywhere taught in the 
Scriptures. (Ps. ii. 6 ; Isa. ix. 6 ; Luke i. 33 ; Heb. i. 
8 ; John xviii. 36 ; Rev. xix. 16.) 

EXTENT OF DOMINION. 

Over what a molehill does the most extensive world- 
ly monarch reign ! Jesus claims unbounded empire. 
All kings and rulers are subject to him ; they are amen- 
able to his authority, they rule by his permission, they 
are controlled by his power. He girds them and 
guides them, though they know him not. As far as 
they move in the direction of his purpose they are 



NOTES ON THE SHOETEE CATECHISM. 127 



invincible; when they oppose it a straw checks and 
overthrows them. He is peculiarly King in Zion. 
He is " Head over all things to the Church." (Eph. i. 
22.) As Mediator "all power was given unto him 
in heaven and in earth." (Matt, xxviii. 18.) God has 
anointed and sealed him to his regal office. " Him 
hath God the Father sealed." (John vi. 27.) 

SU /{ Di rXG ITS TO HIMSELF. 

Christ as a King subdues his people to himself. 
(Tit. iii. 3-8 ; Col. i. 21.) He finds them, like the 
rest of the world, lying in wickedness, the captives of 
Satan and the slaves to sin, in bondage to both. He 
delivers them by the instrumentality of his word ap- 
plied by the power of his Spirit. (Ps. ex. 3 : Hos. xi. 
4; Lukei. 17 ; 2 Cor. x. 4.) 

MULING VS. 

How does Christ rule his people? 1. By giving 
them laws to which they are to conform their hearts 
and their lives. (Isa. xxxiii. 22.) 2. By annexing or 
adding to his laws threatenings of punishing the dis- 
obedient and promises of rewarding the obedient. (Rev. 
ii. 23.) 3. By appointing church officers not only for 
declaring and publishing his laws, but also for the ex- 
ecution of some threatenings, who, having the key of 
discipline, as well as the key of doctrine, committed to 
them, are to rule under him in the Church, and have 
power of binding and loosing, of administering church 
censures and relaxing or removing them. (Matt. xvi. 
19.) 4. And chiefly, Christ rules his people inwardly 
by his Spirit, whereby he writes his law in their hearts, 
working in them a disposition and strength to yield to 



128 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



him that obedience which he requires. (Heb. viii. 10 ; 
2 Cor. iii. 3 ; x. 5.) 

DEFENDING US. 

Christ defends his people — 1. From their temptations. 
He gives them all the instructions, precepts, warnings, 
reproofs, threatenings and promises which are con- 
tained in his word ; and by these they are prompted to 
suspend the dangerous purpose, to watch against the 
rising sin, to oppose with vigor the intruding temptation, 
and to pray for the assistance of the Holy Spirit, which 
every one that askeih shall receive. 2. From their sins. 
In the present world, where all things are imperfect, 
this deliverance, indeed, partakes of the common na- 
ture, yet it is such as to secure them from every fatal 
evil, and such as we know to be one of those things 
which work together for their good. Their progress in 
holiness, though slow, yet is such as to give them hope 
and comfort. 3. From evil men. They may be, and 
are, maligned, calumniated, despised and persecuted, but 
this is overruled so as to wean them from that love of 
the world, that desire of human favor and that thirst 
for human applause which so naturally charm the 
eyes and fascinate the hearts even of Christians, and 
which are wholly inconsistent with the law of God. 
4. From death. Jesus for his people has taken the 
sting from death and the victory from the grave. (Ps. 
iii. 2, 3 ; cxxiv. 2, 3 ; Isa. xxvii. 2, 3 ; 2 Tim. iv. 1.) 

RESTRAINING AND CONQUERING ALL SIS AND 
OUR ENEMIES. 

(See 1 Cor. xv. 25.) Whence is it that this glorious 
King and his subjects have the same enemies f He 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 129 



and they make up that one body of which he is the 
Head and they are the members (1 Cor. xii. 12), and 
therefore they cannot but have common friends and 
foes. (Zech. ii. 8.) What is it for Christ to restraints 
and his people's enemies ? It is to overrule and disap- 
point their wicked purposes (Isa. xxxvii. 29), to set 
limits to their wrath, and to bring a revenue of glory 
to himself out of the same. (Ps. lxxvi. 10.) What re- 
straints does he put upon them ? He bounds them by 
his power, as to the kind, degree and continuance of 
all their enterprises and attacks upon his people. (Job 
i. 12 ; ii. 6.) What is it for Christ to conquer all his 
and his people's enemies ? It is his taking away their 
power, so that they cannot hurt the least of his little 
ones with respect to their spiritual state. (Luke x. 19.) 
How does he conquer them ? He has always conquer- 
ed them in his own person as the Head of the new cov- 
enant by the victory he obtained over them in his death 
(Col. ii. 15), and he conquers them daily in his members, 
when he enables them by faith to put their feet upon 
the neck of their vanquished foes. (Eom. xvi. 20.) 

Ought we to rejoice in Christ's dominion ? Yes. (Ps. 
cxlix. 2.) Must we accept him for our King ? Yes. 
(Matt. xi. 29.) Must we pay tribute to him ? Yes. 
(Isa. xvi. 1.) Must we obey him? Yes. (Heb. v 9.) 

In a missionary speech an old native convert of Rarotonga, 
among other things, observed ; " I have lived during the reign 
of four kings. In the first I was but young ; we were con- 
tinually at war, and a fearful season it was ; watching and hid- 
ing with fear, were all our engagements. During the reign of 
the second, we were overtaken with a severe famine, and all 
expected to perish. . . . During the third, we were conquered 
and became the prey of two other settlements in the island ; 
9 



130 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



then if a man went to fish he rarely ever returned, or if a 
woman went any distance to fetch food she was rarely ever 
seen again. . . . But during the reign of this third king we 
were visited by another King — a great King — a good King — a 
powerful King — a King of love — Jesus, the Lord from heaven. 
He has gained the victory — he has conquered our hearts ; we 
are all his subjects ; therefore we now have peace and plen- 
ty in this world, and hope soon to dwell with him in hea- 
ven." 

Question 27. — Wherein did Christ's humiliation 
consist f 

Answer. — Christ's humiliation consisted in his being 
born, and that in a loiv condition, made under the law, 
undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, 
and the cursed death of the cross ; in being buried, and 
continuing under the power of death for a time. 

" A distinction," says Dr. Dick, " has been made be- 
tween the condescension and the humiliation of Christ, 
the former consisting in the assumption of our na- 
ture, and the latter in his subsequent abasement and 
sufferings. The reason why the assumption of our 
nature is not accounted a part of his humiliation 
is, that he retained it in his state of exaltation. The 
distinction seems to be favored by Paul." (Phil. ii. 
7, 8.) 

BEING BORN. 

Jesus Christ did not bring his assumed nature from 
heaven, nor was it formed like the body of Adam out 
of the dust of the ground. " He was conceived by the 
Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary." He became 
incarnate. " The word was made flesh." It was real 
flesh Christ took— not the image of a body, as some 



NOTES OjST THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 131 

ancient heretics held, but a true body. Hence he is 
said to be " made of a woman." (Gal. iv. 4.) As the 
bread is made of the wheat and the wine is made of 
the grape, so Christ is made of a woman. His body 
was part of the flesh and substance of the Virgin. In 
the creation man was made in God's image ; in the 
incarnation God was made in man's image. "As," says 
Ursinus, " we are born of God because he made us, so 
Christ was conceived by the Holy Ghost because it was 
by his virtue and operation that he was conceived, and 
not because he was formed from the substance of the 
Holy Ghost." (Luke i. 35. See also Col. ii. 9 ; John 

i. 14; Heb. ii. 16; 1 Tim. iii. 16.) 

IN A LOW CONDITION. 

Jesus was born of that which, though once an hon- 
orable, was then a poor family. (Isa. liii. 2.) He was 
born of a poor woman. (Luke ii. 24 ; compare Lev. 

xii. 8.) His supposed father was a poor man. (Matt. 

xiii. 55.) He was born in a poor place and in poor 
circumstances. (Mic. v. 2 ; Luke ii. 7.) He had not 
the respect paid to him that was due to an incarnate 
Deity. (John i. 10, 11.) He was not born honorably, 
for " he took upon him the form of a servant." (Phil. 

ii. 7.) He was not born wealthy, for " though he was 
rich, yet for our sakes he became poor." (2 Cor. viii. 
9.) Let us remember that we are describing the state 
of Him who is now " King of kings " and " Lord of 
lords," and was then " God over all, blessed for ever." 
He made "himself of no reputation" (Phil. ii. 7) ; or, 
as the phrase might be better translated, " he emptied 
himself." Though he did not divest himself of his 



132 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



glory literally, lie did so economically ; that is, he as 
effectually concealed it as if he had laid it entirely 
aside. No trace of divine perfections could be seen 
in a new-born child. He who is greater than all ap- 
peared in the lowest stage of human existence. This 
was humiliation indeed. Never let a poor disciple of 
Jesus blush or complain, nor let any fail to admire the 
grace by which he thus interposed to rescue fallen man. 
(2 Cor. viii. 9.) 

MADE UNDER THE I AW. 

It was a most amazing condescension that the Lord 
and Lawgiver of heaven and earth should become sub- 
ject to the law which he had enacted for humble and 
inferior creatures, especially when he did it to fulfill 
that law in the place of those very creatures after they 
had transgressed it and incurred its penalty. Jesus was 
made " under the law." He subjected himself to it. 
(See Gal. iv. 4; Luke ii. 21, 22; xlii. 51 ; Matt. xvii. 
24, 27 ; iii. 15 ; Ps. xl. 8.) By being made under the 
law Jesus was made under the curse. (Gal. iii. 13.) 
The law made no concession to his dignity ; it waived 
none of its rights in his favor. 

THE MISERIES OF THIS LIFE. 

Jesus was tempted. (Matt. iv. 1.) Endured the con- 
tradictions, reproaches and indignities of wicked men. 
(Heb. xii. 3 ; Matt. x. 55.) Underwent the sinless in- 
firmities of the flesh, such as weariness, hunger, thirst 
and the like in regard to his body, and grief and sor- 
row in regard to his soul. (John iv. 6 ; Matt. iv. 2 ; 
viii. 20 ; Isa. liii. 3 ; Rom. viii. 3 ; Heb. iv. 15.) 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 133 



THE WRATH OF GOD. 

Christ suffered the utmost effects of God's holy and 
righteous displeasure against sin. (Ps. xc. 11.) The 
union of the human nature with his divine person, by 
which it was impossible it could sink under the weight, 
made him capable of supporting that wrath. He en- 
dured it chiefly in his agony in the garden. (Matt. xxvi. 
38; Luke xxii. 44; Matt, xxvii. 46.) He underwent 
it as the Surety of his people. (Isa. liii. 6.) Though the 
sin of the world which he was bearing was the object 
of God's infinite hatred, yet the glorious Person bear- 
ing it was even then the object of his infinite love. 
(Isa. liii. 10.) 

THE CURSED DEATH OF THE CROSS. 

The death of the cross was called a cursed death, be- 
cause they who endured it were separated from all 
good and devoted to all evil. Christ, although sinless 
in himself, was separated from all happiness and de- 
voted to all misery while he suffered on the accursed 
tree. God spared him not, but gave him up to this 
awful death for us all. (Phil. ii. 8 ; Gal. iii. 13 ; Matt, 
xxvii. 46.) 

BURIED, AND CONTINUING UNDER THE POWER 
OF DEATH. 

" Christ's humiliation after his death (says The 
Larger Catechism) consisted in his being buried and 
continuing in the state of the dead, and under the 
power of death, till the third day, which hath been 
otherwise expressed in these words, — he descended into 
hell." (1 Cor. xv. 3, 4; Matt. xii. 40 ; Ps. xvi. 10, com- 
pared with Acts ii. 24, 25, 26 ; Rom. vi. 9.) The re- 



134 NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

ceptacle of our Saviour's soul was Paradise, and the 
place of his body was the grave. Death and the 
grave were not able to maintain their dominion over 
Christ, because of the complete payment of all de- 
mands made upon him as a Surety. (Rom. vi. 9 ; 1 
Cor. xv. 4 ; Eph. i. 7.) 

PRACTICAL LESSONS. 

Christ's humiliation teaches us — 1. To humble our- 
selves, "lis the humble saint that is Christ's pic- 
ture. (Matt. xi. 29.) 2. That as he died for our sins, 
so we should die to sin, and not be unwilling to suffer 
and die for his sake if called thereto. (Rom. vi. 8, 11 ; 
1 Pet. iv. 1.) 3. That the grave, being " the place 
where the Lord lay " (Matt, xxviii. 6), must be sweet 
to a dying saint. (1 Thess. iv. 14.) 

In a portion of the American territory from which the red 
man has now been driven, at a protracted meeting held in the 
wild forest, the subject of "Christ and him crucified" was 
illustrated with surpassing beauty and grandeur. The preacher 
spoke of the Good Shepherd who came into the world to seek 
and to save the lost. He drew a picture of Gethseinane and 
the unbefriended stranger who went there. He told of the 
rude buffetings which he met from the heartless soldiers. He 
pointed to him as he hung bleeding on the cross. The con- 
gregation wept. Soon there was a slight movement in the as- 
sembly, and a tall son of the forest, with tears on his red 
cheeks, approached the pulpit and said, "Did Jesus die for 
me — die for poor Indian ? Me have no lands to give to Jesus, 
the white man take them away ; me give him my dog and my 
rifle." The minister told him Jesus could not accept these 
gifts. "Me give Jesus my dog, my rifle and my blanket; 
poor Indian, he got no more to give — he give Jesus all." The 
minister replied that Jesus could not accept them. The poor 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 135 

ignorant but generous child of the forest bent his head in sor- 
row, and meditated. He raised his noble brow once more, and 
fixed his eye on the preacher while he sobbed out, "Here is 
poor Indian ; will Jesus have him ?" A thrill of unutterable 
joy ran through the souls of minister and people as this fierce 
son of the wilderness now sat, in his right mind, at the feet of 
Jesus. The Spirit had done his work, and he who had been 
so poor received the earnest of his inheritance. 

Question 28. — Wherein consisteih Christ's exaltation? 

Answer. — Chrisfs exaltation consisteih in his rising 
again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up 
into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Fa- 
ther, and in coming to judge the world- at the last day. 

The two states in which our Redeemer is presented 
to us in the last question and in this, though very dif- 
ferent in themselves, were both necessary to the exe- 
cution of his offices. The one exhibits him humbled 
and abased, the other exhibits him exalted and glori- 
fied. In the one we see the Sun of Righteousness in the 
eclipse ; in the other we see it coming out of the ob- 
scuration and shining in its full splendor aud glory. 

EXAIjTA. tion. 

Christ has not been exalted in respect of his God- 
head, for that cannot be exalted higher than it is, but 
he is exalted as Mediator ; his human nature is exalted. 
There was thus a manifestation in the human nature 
(which had concealed it for a while) of the same glory 
of which he was eternally possessed as the Son of God. 
(John xvii. 5.) His exaltation immediately follows his 
humiliation, because it is the proper reward of it. (Phil, 
ii. 8, 9 ; Luke xxiv. 26.) 



136 NOTES ON THE SHOETER CATECHISM. 
RISING AGAIN FROM THE DEAD. 

Ancient prophecy foreshadowed Christ's resurrection 
(Ps. xvi. 10), and ancient history typified it. (Jonah 
i. 17 ; Matt. xii. 40.) In his teaching he repeatedly 
told his disciples that he should be put to death and 
rise again. (Matt. xvi. 21 ; xvii. 9.) After his resur- 
rection, Jesus appeared to some or other of the apos- 
tles, or their companions, eight times. He appeared 
to Mary Magdalene alone (Mark xvi. 9), to her in 
company with several other women (Matt, xxviii. 9), 
to Peter (1 Cor. xv. 5), to the two disciples going to 
Emmaus (Luke xxiv. 13), to the apostles in Jeru- 
salem (John xx. 19; Luke xxiv. 13), to the apostles 
a second time (John xx. 26), to Peter and several of 
the disciples (John xxi. 1), and to above five hundred 
brethren at once. (1 Cor. xv. 6.) Could all these dif- 
ferent persons have been deceived in these appearances 
of one with whom they had been for so long a time 
perfectly well acquainted ? (See also Acts i. 3 ; ii. 24 ; 
Kom. xiv. 9 ; Rev. i. 18 ; 1 Pet. i. 21 ; Matt, xxviii. 6 ; 
Acts x. 40, 41.) 

THE THIRD HAY. 

As our Lord was in the tomb a part of three days, 
and it was customary with the Jews and agreeable to 
the language of Scripture to represent an event as ex- 
tending through all the days on which any part of it 
took place, there was a complete fulfillment, according 
to the current use of language, of the declaration that 
" the Son of man shall be three days and three nights 
in the heart of the earth." (Matt. xii. 40 ; John ii. 19.) 
Jesus rose upon the first day of the week, which is ever 
since called " the Lord's Day," and is to be observed to 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 137 

the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath. (Acts 
xx. 7.) 

ASCENDING INTO ME AY EN. 

(See Luke xxiv. 51 ; Acts i. 9.) Christ's ascension 
was forty days after his resurrection. (Acts i. 2, 3.) 
He ascended — 1. That his mediatorial person might 
be glorified. (John xvii. 5.) 2. That he might, as 
Head of the Church, take possession of heaven for 
all his members. (Heb. vi. 20.) We are taught by 
the ascension that heaven is a place ; also to set our 
affection on things above. (Col. iii. 2. See also John 
xvi. 17 ; xiv. 2 ; Eph. iv. 8 ; Heb. ix. 12.) 

SITTING AT THE MIGHT HAND OF GOD THE 
EAT HEM. 

(Mark xvi. 19.) The right hand is the place of 
honor. (See 1 Kings ii. 19.) In the position assigned 
to our Saviour in heaven he is invested with great 
dignity and glory. His human nature is elevated 
above men and angels. His saints will sit down 
with him upon his throne. They will share in his 
glory, but not in equal measure. Their glory will 
be similar, but not in the same degree. (Rev. v. 11, 
12; Heb. ii. 9; Rom. viii. 29; Ps. xvi. 11.) The 
" right hand " is the emblem of power. (Matt. xxvi. 
64; Ps. ex. 1; Dan. vii. 13, 14; Matt, xxviii. 18; 
Phil. ii. 9-11.) The legal priests stood, their posture 
denoting that they were constantly engaged in the 
service of the altar, but had not accomplished the 
design of their office. (Heb. x. 11-13.) But Jesus, 
when he entered heaven, sat down at the right hand 
of God, his posture signifying that his work is fin- 



138 NOTES OST THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



ished, his oblation has been accepted. (See Rom. 
viii. 34; Acts vii. 56; Phil. ii. 9.) 

COMING TO JUDGE I II E WORLD. 

Jesns has been constituted Judge of the whole world. 
(John v. 22.) At the day of judgment he shall be 
exalted pre-eminently. He shall wear the same robes 
of majesty as the Father, and he shall come with all 
his holy angels. (Mark viii. 38 ; Matt. xxv. 31.) He 
who was led to the bar with a band of soldiers shall 
be attended to the bench with a guard of angels. 
Christ shall judge his judges. He shall judge Pilate 
that condemned him. Kings must leave their thrones 
and come to his bar. All will appear before his judg- 
ment-seat to receive the things done in the body, 
whether they have been good or evil. (Acts xvii. 31 ; 
Rev. i. 7 ; Heb. ix. 28.) 

''Christ has taken our nature into heaven to represent us, 
and has left us on earth with his nature to represent him." — John 
Newton. 

Question 29. — How are we made partakers of the 
redemption purchased by Christ? 

Answer. — We are made partakers of the redemption 
purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to 
us by his Holy Spirit. 

REDEMPTION. 

This term is borrowed from certain pecuniary trans- 
actions among men, as the release of an imprisoued 
debtor by liquidating his debt, or the deliverance of a 
captive by paying a ransom. These are transactions 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 139 



with which mankind in general, and especially the Jews 
and primitive Christians, have been perfectly familiar. 
Accordingly, both in the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures 
the deliverance of man from sin is frequently repre- 
sented by language borrowed from such negotiations. 
The term before us is of this nature. It involves all 
the ideas included in atonement. It supposes sin, which 
is the cause of imprisonment or captivity. It supposes 
deliverance by a substitute, the captive or debtor being 
unable to effect his own escape. And of course it sup- 
poses also a clear emancipation or restoration as the 
result of the ransom being paid. (See Matt. xx. 28 ; 1 
Pet. i. 18, 19.) 

PURCHASED BY CHRIST. 

" The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and sac- 
rifice of himself, which he, through the eternal Spirit, 
once offered up unto God, hath fully satisfied the jus- 
tice of his Father and purchased not only reconcilia- 
tion, but an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of 
heaven for all those whom the Father hath given unto 
him." — Confession of Faith, chap. viii. sec. 5. (Rom. v. 
19 ; iii. 25, 26 ; Heb. x. 14 ; Eph. v. 2 ; i. 11, 14 ; John 
xvii. 2 ; Heb. ix. 12, 15. See also Heb. v. 9 ; 1 Cor. 
vi. 20 ; Ps. lxvii. 18 ; Isa. lxi. 1 ; lv. 1 ; Mark xvi. 15 ; 
John xiv. 22.) 

WE ARE MADE PARTAKERS. 

It is not enough for us that there is a redemption 
purchased, for there are those who deny the Lord who 
bought them. (2 Pet. ii. 1.) It is not enough to hear 
of it, for to some it is " a savor of death unto death." 
(2 Cor. ii. 16.) It is not enough to have a name among 



140 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



the redeemed. (Rev. iii. 1.) It is also necessary that we 
be partakers of the purchased redemption. Although, 
as a consequence of Christ's having paid the price of 
his precious blood, the salvation of his people was cer- 
tain, yet something further was necessary to make them 
actual partakers of it. As they come into the world 
in a state of guilt and depravity, are " by nature chil- 
dren of wrath even as others," they must undergo a 
change both relative and real — relative, in respect of 
the law, by being acquitted of its charges ; and real, in 
respect of their views aud dispositions. (See Acts xxvi. 
18.) The order of the divine procedure toward them 
is represented in Rom. viii. 29, 30. (See also Heb. ii. 
14; Col. ii. 6; i. 27.) 

FFFECTTJA I A PFLICA TION. 

When may the application of redemption be said to 
be effectual f When it produces the saving effects for 
which it is designed. What are these saving effects ? 
The opening of sinners' eyes, and turning them from 
darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. 
(Acts xxvi. 18.) The purchase of redemption is a work 
done without us, but the application of it takes place 
within us. 

BY MIS MOLT SPIRIT. 

The external means which God employs in the ap- 
plication of redemption are his ordinances, and par- 
ticularly his word, read and heard (2 Tim. iii. 15, 16 ; 
Rom. x. 17) ; but conversion is effected by the Holy 
Spirit. (1 Thess. i. 5 ; 2 Thess. i. 11.) Each person of 
the Godhead has a peculiar province in the work of re- 
demption. As it originated with the Father, on whose 
love the eternal purpose of saving sinners was founded, 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 141 

and was obtained by the obedience and death of the 
Son, so it is applied by the Holy Ghost, the author of 
spiritual wisdom and faith and holiness and consola- 
tion. Hence this office is expressly ascribed to him. 
He is called the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the 
knowledge of Christ. (Eph. i. 17.) God promises to 
put his Spirit within us, that we may walk in his stat- 
utes and keep his judgments, and do them. (Ezek. 
xxxvi. 27.) In a word, we are said to be " born of 
the Spirit." (John iii. 5. See also Tit. iii. 5, 6 ; Johu 
vi. 63 ; xvi. 15 ; xiv. 26.) Why is the Spirit, the third 
person of the adorable Trinity, in the application of 
the work of the redemption called the Holy Spirit ? Be- 
cause he is essentially holy, and because all his works 
and operations are of a like nature or character with 
himself. (Ps. li. 11 ; Rom. xv. 16.) Why is redemption 
said to be applied by the Spirit of Christ or " his Holy 
Spirit " ? Because the Spirit is sent for this work more 
immediately by Christ, and through his mediation, as 
the leading fruit of his purchase. (John xiv. 16.) 

E VIDENCE OF BEING REDEEMED. 

How shall we know that we are in the number of 
them that are redeemed by Christ? Those of whom 
this is true are — 1. Beconciled to God ; their enmity is 
taken away ; their judgments approve, their wills in- 
cline to that which is good. (Col. i. 21.) 2. They are 
redeemed from the world. (Gal. i. 4.) They are " dead 
to the world," its honors, profits and preferments. 
They are "risen with Christ." (Col. iii. 1.) 

When Bishop Butler lay on his deathbed he called for his 
chaplain and said, " Though I have endeavored to avoid sin 



142 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



and to please God to the utmost of my power, yet from the 
consciousness of perpetual infirmities I am still afraid to die." 
"My lord," said the chaplain, "you have forgotten that 
Jesus Christ is a Saviour." "True," was the answer; "but 
how shall I know that he is a Saviour for me? 7 ' " My lord, 
it is written, ' Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast 
out.'" "True," said the bishop, " and I am surprised that 
though I have read that scripture a thousand times over, I 
never felt its virtue till this moment ; and now I die 
happy." 

" In my preaching," said Bunyan, " I could not be satisfied 
unless some fruit did appear in my work." " I would think 
it a greater happiness," said Matthew Henry, " to gain one soul 
to Christ than mountains of silver and gold to myself. If I do 
not gain souls, I shall enjoy all my other gains with very little 
satisfaction ; and I would rather beg my bread from door to 
door than not undertake this great work." Doddridge, writing 
to a friend, remarked, " I long for the conversion of souls more 
sensibly than for anything besides. Methinks I could not only 
labor, but die for it with pleasure." 

The Rev. Pliny Fiske in his diary thus writes : " There is 
nothing I desire so much for myself and my friends as the in- 
fluence of the Holy Ghost. I am clearly convinced that my 
sins will prevail and my lusts increase their strength in spite 
of all my efforts, unless the Holy Spirit purify and elevate 
my affections. I am persuaded that he can give me humility, 
repentance, benevolence, faith, love and every grace. Blessed 
agent in the work of salvation ! it is thine to sanctify. Oh, let 
thy purifying influences come into my soul and make me 
holy !" 

Quest ton 30. — How doth the Spirit apply to us the 
redemption purchased by Christ f 

Answer. — The Spirit applieth to us the redemption 
purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby 
uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling. 



KOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 143 



UNITING US TO CHRIST. 

We cannot have any share in the redemption pur- 
chased by Christ without union to him, because all 
purchased blessings are lodged in him and go along 
with him. The union between Christ and his disciples 
is not a mere figure of speech, but a reality. They are 
one, not merely in sentiment and affection, by consent 
of mind and heart, but by a real conjunction. This 
union is — 1. Spiritual. In forming an idea of it we must 
elevate our conceptions higher than the most intimate 
connection which can be formed between two indi- 
viduals by the operations of intellect and will. The 
same Spirit lives in our exalted Redeemer and in his 
people upon earth, and hence, although separated from 
him and from one another, they are but one. 2. In- 
dissoluble. He will not dissolve it, for those whom he 
loves he loves to the end. Nor will they, for as he 
prays that their faith may not fail, so the Spirit, dwell- 
ing in their hearts, preserves it amidst the dangers to 
which it is exposed. There may, indeed, be a tem- 
porary turning from Christ, in consequence of the de- 
cline of grace or the suspension of the activity of the 
spiritual principle, but there can be no total or final 
falling away from grace. 

How can we be united to Christ, seeing he is in 
heaven and we on earth ? Although the human na- 
ture of Christ be in heaven, yet his person is every- 
where. (Matt, xxviii. 20.) Where can he be found 
on earth, in order to our being united to him ? In the 
word, which is nigh to us, and Christ in it. (Rom. x. 
8, 9.) 



144 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



J' ROOF OF THE DOCTRINE. 

(1 Cor. vi. 17 ; Gal. ii. 20 ; Rom. vi. 4 ; Eph. ii. 5, 6 ; 
Col i. 18 ; Eph. v. 30 ; John i. 16 ; xv. 5 ; Isa. xxviii. 
16; 1 Pet. ii. 5. See also Heb. ii. 11 ; John x. 28; 
Rev. xiv. 13 ; 1 Thess. iv. 14.) 

FAITH. 

The principal bond of union between Christ and his 
people is the Spirit, who, being in him and in them, 
makes them truly one. But as the union is mutual, 
something is necessary on their part, to complete it ; 
and this is faith or believing. Hence, Christ is said 
to dwell in our hearts by faith. (Eph. iii. 17.) Faith 
is everywhere commanded in the Scriptures. (See 1 
John iii. 23 ; Mark i. 14, 15 ; John vi. 35.) There is 
an historical faith, which is the believing the truths re- 
vealed in the word, because of divine authority ; a tem- 
porary faith, which soon vanisheth (Matt. xiii. 21) ; a 
miraculous faith, which was granted to the apostles to 
work miracles for the confirmation of the gospel, and 
which Judas had, who, after casting out devils, was 
himself cast out to the devil ; a true justifying faith, 
which consists in a cordial approbation of the Saviour, 
a hearty consent to his offers, an acceptance of him in 
his entire character, as made of God unto us wisdom, 
and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption 
(1 Cor. i. 30.) Though faith is our act, yet it is God's 
gift. (Eph. ii. 8 ; Col. ii. 12.) 

HOW IS FAITH WROUGHT IN US? 

By the blessed Spirit, who is called the " Spirit of 
grace" (Zech. xii. 10), because he is the spring and 
efficient applier of all grace. " Faith," says an old 



NOTES ON THE SHOKTER CATECHISM. 145 



writer, "is the chief work which the Spirit of God 
works in a man's heart. In making the world God 
did but speak a word, but in working faith he puts 
forth his arm. (Luke i. 51.) The Spirit's working 
faith is called the exceeding greatness of God's power. 
(Eph. i. 19, 20.) What a power was put forth in 
raising Christ from the grave when such a tombstone 
lay upon him — ' the sins of all the world ' ! Yet he 
was raised up by the Spirit ; the same power the Spirit 
of God puts forth in working faith." (See Eph. ii. 18, 
22 ; iii. 17 ; Rom. viii. 9.) 

Mrs. Roinaine was once in company with a clergyman at 
Tiverton who spake with no little zeal against what he 
called " irresistible grace," alleging that " such grace would 
be quite incompatible with free will." " Not at all so," an- 
swered Mrs. Rornaine ; " grace operates effectually, yet not 
coercively. The wills of God's people are drawn to him and 
divine things, just as your will would be drawn to a bishopric, 
if you had the offer of it." 

IJV OUR EFFECTUAL calling. 
The common call will not unite us to Christ. (Matt, 
xxii. 14.) It is in our effectual calling that this is 
done. (1 Cor. i. 9.) " Whom he called, them he also 
justified." (Rom. viii. 30. See Notes on next Ques- 
tion.) 

IMPS O VEMENT. 

What improvement ought both saints and sinners to 
make of the doctrine of union with Christ f Saints 
ought to show that Christ is in them, by endeavor- 
ing that his image shine forth in their conversation, 
studying to " walk worthy of the Lord unto all plea- 
sing." (Col. i. 10.) Sinners ought to seek after this 
10 



146 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



happy relation to Christ while he is yet standing at 
their door and knocking (Rev. iii. 20), and while the 
gates of the city of refuge are not yet closed. (Zech. 
ix. 12.) 

That active and useful Christian, Harlan Page, is said to 
have been habitually impressed with, the necessity to every 
man of being born again. As soon as any person came into 
his presence it seemed to be the first question of his mind, 
"Is this a friend or an enemy of God?" The next thing was, 
if impenitent, to do something for his conversion, or if a 
Christian, to encourage him in duty. Whatever else he saw 
in an individual, he felt that it availed him nothing unless he 
had received Christ into his heart by a living faith. This he 
felt and urged to be the. sinner's first, great and only duty in 
which he could be acceptable to God. 

Question 31. — What is effectual calling f 
Answer. — Effectual calling is the work of God's /Spirit, 
whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlighten- 
ing our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing 
our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace 
Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospeL 

EFFECTUAL CAZZING. 

There is an external and general call of providence, 
and especially of the word, by which all sinners are 
freely invited to Christ, that they may have life and 
salvation by him. (See Ps. xix. 1 ; Mic. vi. 9 ; Isa. lv. 
1 ; Rev. xxii. 17 ; Matt. xx. 16 ; xxii. 3.) This out- 
ward call shows men what they ought to do in order 
to salvation, and renders them inexcusable in case of 
disobedience. Effectual calling is the internal call of 
the Spirit, accompanying the outward call with saving 
power and efficacy upon the soul. (John vi. 45, 63 ; 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 147 



Matt. xxii. 14; 2 Thess. ii. 13, 14; 2 Cor. iii. 3, 6 ; 
Rom. viii. 2; 2 Tim. i. 9, 10; Eph. ii. 1-5.) With 
this calling sanctification is inseparably connected. It 
is a holy calling. (2 Tim. i. 9 ; 1 Pet. i. 15 ; ii. 9 ; Gal. 
i. 6.) The outward call may bring a man to the pro- 
fession of Christ ; the inward brings him also to a pos- 
session of Christ. This call is 

THE WORK OF GOD'S SPIRIT. 

An act is a single exertion or operation, and takes 
place and is finished at once. A work is a series or 
continuation of acts or operations, and continues for 
some length of time. As effectual calling consists, as 
the answer shows, of several progressive steps, it is, of 
course, a work. It should be noted, however, that the 
several steps or gradations of advance in this work, 
although capable of being separately considered, are 
not so separated in experience as that one is always 
completed before another is begun. On the contrary, 
he who is effectually called seldom, perhaps, thinks of 
the several parts or steps of his calling till the whole 
is completed, when by reflection he may perceive 
that he has shared in all. Effectual calling is termed 
a work of God's Spirit, because it relates to the appli- 
cation of redemption, which is the special work of the 
Holy Spirit. (John xvi. 14. See also 2 Cor. iii. 5 ; 
Jer. xxxi. 18 ; Isa. lvii. 17, 18 ; Acts xvi. 14 ; Rom. 
ix. 16; John vi. 37.) Four steps are specified as 
being the Spirit's work: 

1. CONVINCING US OF OJTR SIN AND MISERY. 

(See on Question 17.) There is an actual necessity 
that we should be convinced of our sin. (Matt. ix. 12.) 



148 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

We must be convinced of the fact of it (Ps. 1. 21), of 
the fault of it (Jer. ii. 10), of the folly of it (2 Chron. 
xvi. 9), of the filth of it (Jer. ii. 23), of the fruit of it 
(Isa. lix. 1, 2), and of the fountain of it. (1 Kings viii. 
38.) We must also be convinced of our misery (Rev. 
iii. 17 ; Matt. iii. 7 ; Rom. vii. 9), and of the possibility 
of our being helped by the grace of God. (Luke xv. 7 ; 
Matt. xi. 28.) The Spirit works in our minds a con- 
viction of our sin and misery, when he gives us a clear 
sight and full persuasion of the dreadful wrath of God, 
and the endless miseries of hell which we have deserved 
for sin, and to which we are every hour exposed ; which 
wounds our hearts and consciences and fills us with 
perplexing care what to do to be saved. (John xvi. 8 ; 
Acts ii. 37 ; Jer. 1. 5.) This he does by the law. 
(Rom. iii. 20 ; Gal. iii. 10.) All who are effectually 
called are thus convinced. All, however, have not an 
equal measure of this conviction — some more and some 
less, as in the instances of Paul and Lydia. (Acts ix. 6, 
as compared with chap. xvi. 14.) But all have enough 
to make them feel their guilty and lost condition and 
their need of Christ. 

EN L I G It TUNING O UR MINDS IN THE KNOWLEDGE 
OF CHRIST. 

"The understanding is opened to understand the 
Scriptures, to discern with some clearness the plan of 
salvation by Christ, to perceive the practical use of his 
offices, to receive the knowledge of his atonement, right- 
eousness and fullness — to see, in a word, that he is a 
Saviour of matchless excellence, inexhaustible suffi- 
ciency and unspeakable suitableness. The anxious 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 149 



sinner sees with an impression never known before, 
that Christ Jesus is indeed a Saviour — exactly fitted to 
his state and necessities ; able to save to the uttermost 
all that come unto God by him ; and willing to save 
without money and without price. He sees, too, that 
Christ is freely tendered, sincerely offered, with all his 
benefits, to every one who is willing to accept him." 
(See Hos. vi. 1 ; xiii. 9 ; Eph. i. 17, 18 ; 2 Cor. iv. 6 ; 
Ps. lxxxix. 19 ; Zech. ix. 12 ; Phil. iii. 8.) 

3. AND RENEWING OUR WILLS. 

(See Ps. ex. 2, 3.) The will is naturally wicked 
and rebellious, full of enmity against Christ and the 
way of salvation through him. (John v. 40.) Nor 
can any man change or renew his own will. (Jer. xiii. 
'23.) The renovation of the will consists in working 
in it a new inclination or propensity to good, and a 
fixed aversion to whatever is evil. The Spirit, in re- 
newing the will, does not use any violence or compul- 
sion. God here acts by his almighty power, without, 
however, forcing our will; for, communicating to us 
spiritual properties, he gives us to will and to do of 
his good pleasure. His influence, therefore, cannot be 
resisted by the hardness of a man's heart, since it re- 
moves that hardness, and is the converting of hearts 
of stone into hearts of flesh. (Ps. cxix. 36 ; Ezek. 
xxxvi. 26.) 

4. DOTS PERSUADE AND ENABLE US, ETC. 

Christ is " offered to us in the gospel." (Rev. iii. 20.) 
He is "freely" offered. (Isa, lv. 1.) We are concerned 
to embrace that offer. (Prov. ix. 5.) What is it to 



150 XOTES THE SHOETEE CATECHISM. 



" embrace " Christ ? It is, like Simeon, to clasp him 
in the arms of faith with complacency and delight. 
(Luke ii. 28.) Where is it that faith embraces him ? 
In the promises of the gospel. (Heb. xi. 13.) What 
warrant has faith thus to embrace him ? His Father's 
gift (John iii. 16) and his own offer of himself. (Isa. 
xlv. 22.) God conducts us to Christ, not like slaves 
driven to their task by the terror of punishment, but 
in a manner suitable to our rational and moral nature. 
His power, although able to subdue opposition, is of 
the mildest and most gentle kind. While he com- 
mands, he persuades ; while he draws, the sinner comes 
without reluctance ; and never in his life is there a 
freer act of volition than when he believes in Christ 
and accepts of his salvation. 

A person once said in the presence of Dr. Nettleton, that to 
inculcate upon sinners their dependence on God for a new heart 
is suited to discourage effort and to lead them to sit down in 
despair. He replied : " The very reverse of this is true. Sup- 
pose a number of men are locked up in a room playing cards ; 
some person informs them that the roof of the building is on 
fire, and that they must make their escape or they will perish 
in the flames. Says one of them, ' We need not be in haste ; we 
shall have time to finish the game.' 'But/ says the person 
who gave the alarm, 'your door is locked.' 'No matter for 
that,' he replies ; ' I have the key in my pocket, and can open it 
at any moment.' 'But I tell you that the key will not open the 
door.' 'Won't it?' he exclaims, and rising from the table flies 
to the door and exerts himself to the utmost to open it. So 
sinners, while they believe there is no difficulty in. securing 
their salvation at any moment, quiet their consciences and 
silence their fears. But when they are taught that such is the 
wickedness of their hearts that they will never repent unless 
God interposes by his regenerating grace, they are alarmed 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 151 



and begin to inquire in deep distress what they shall do to 
be saved." 

The Kev. Thomas Doolittle used to catechise the members, 
and especially the young people, of his congregation every 
Lord's Day. One Sabbath evening, after having received an 
answer in the words of the Assembly's Catechism, to the ques- 
tion, " What is effectual calling ?" and having explained it, he 
proposed that the question should be answered by changing the 
words us and our into me and my. Upon this proposal a solemn 
silence followed ; many felt its vast importance, but none had 
courage to answer. At length a young man rose up, and with 
every mark of a broken and contrite heart, by divine grace 
was enabled to say : " Effectual calling is the work of God's 
Spirit, whereby, convincing me of my sin and misery, enlighten- 
ing my mind in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing my will, 
he did persuade and enabled me to embrace Jesus Christ, freely 
offered to me in the gospel." The scene was truly affecting. 
The proposal of that question had commanded unusual solemn- 
ity. The rising up of the young man had created high expec- 
tations, and the answer being accompanied with proofs of un- 
feigned piety and modesty, the congregation was bathed in 
tears. This young man had been convicted by being cate- 
chised, and to his honor, Mr. D. says, " From being an ignor- 
ant and wicked youth, he had become an intelligent professor, 
to God's glory and my much comfort." 

Question 32. — What benefits do they that are effectu- 
ally called partake of in this life t 

Answer. — They that are effectually called do in this 
life partake of justification, adoption, sanctification, and 
the several benefits which, in this life, do either accompany 
or floiv from them. 

All those are happy who, as we have seen in consider- 
ing the preceding question, are " effectually called " and 
" embrace Jesus Christ." They enjoy communion with 
Christ. 1. Communion of intercourse— that is, that near 



152 NOTES ON THE SHORTER, CATECHISM. 



intimacy and sweet freedom which Christ and his peo- 
ple have with one another. (Isa. lviii. 9.) 2. Commu- 
nion of interest, consisting in their actual title to and 
possession of Christ himself and his purchased bless- 
ings. (Song ii. 16 ; 1 Cor. i. 30. See also Eph. ii. 5 ; 1 
Thess. ii. 12 ; Rom. iv. 16.) They are happy even in 
this life. (Eph. i. 13.) They are dignified and preferred. 
(1 Pet. ii. 9.) They are brought near. (Eph. ii. 13.) 
They are enlightened. (Isa. ii. 5.) They are taken into 
the communion of saints (Heb. xii. 22), and into com- 
munion with the holy angels. (Heb. xii. 22.) They are 
entitled to the best possessions. (1 Cor. iii. 22.) They 
enjoy the best blessings. (Eph. i. 3.) They are happy 
both for soul and body. (2 Pet. i. 3.) How are all 
these benefits connected with effectual calling? By a 
connection established in the eternal purpose and coun- 
sel of God, in which all these blessings or benefits are 
sweetly linked together. (Rom. viii. 30.) 

Said John Newton to a gay friend, " I need not turn deist to 
enjoy the best and the most that this life can afford." Newton 
had a right to say this, and so he believed. He had, as he says, 
" experienced the good and the evil on both sides." He had 
been a man of pleasure and of impiety, and knew how to esti- 
mate them. Then he says to his friend, " If you were to send 
me an inventory of your pleasures, how charmingly your time 
runs on, and how dexterously it is divided between the coffee- 
house, play-house, the card-table and tavern, with intervals of 
balls, concerts, etc., I could answer that most of these I have 
tried, and tried again, and know the utmost they can yield, and 
have seen enough of the rest most heartily to despise them all. 
You know all that a life of pleasure can give, and I know it 
likewise." So far they were equal. But Newton had another 
experience, found " in the pardon of his sins, communion with 
God, calm reliance on the divine Providence, the cheering pros- 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 153 

pect of a better life, with foretastes of heaven in his soul." Sup- 
posing that such pleasures would be despised, he adds, "But 
here lies the difference, my dear friend. You condemn that 
which you have never tried." An all-sufficient answer is this 
to every one who questions the superiority of religion. 

JUSTIFICATION, 

All the blessings here enumerated flow from our 
union to Christ. (1 Cor. i. 30.) Justification is a 
legal term, used to imply the declaring or account- 
ing of a person just or righteous before God. If any- 
one were free from sin, if he perfectly obeyed. God's 
commandments, he would naturally be pronounced, for 
he would really be, just — not exposed to the penalty of 
transgression. (Rom. ii. 13.) But mankind, as sinful, 
are not just in this sense, and cannot be so treated. (Ps. 
cxliii. 2 ; Rom. iii. 19, 20, 23 ; 1 John i. 8.) If, then, 
they are to be freed from the condemnation of sin, if 
they are to be dealt with as those not amenable to God's 
law, it must be, not by the establishment of their inno- 
cence, but by the remission of their guilt. Justification 
is an unspeakable benefit. (Ps. xxxii. 1.) 

What is the connection between effectual calling and 
justification ? " Whom he called, them he also justi- 
fied." (Rom. viii. 30 ; 2 Cor. v. 21.) In effectual call- 
ing, sinners, being united, to Christ by faith, have 
thereby communion with him in his righteousness, for 
justification. (Phil. iii. 9.) 

ADOPTION. 

Adoption is an act whereby one takes another into 
his family, owns him for his son and appoints him his 
heir. It obtained among the Greeks and Romans and 



154 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



many other nations. We meet, however, with few or 
no traces of it among the Jews. In theology it denotes 
that act by which God takes into his family and in- 
vests with a title to heaven all who believe in Jesus 
Christ. (John i. 12 ; 1 John iii. 1.) This is also an un- 
speakable benefit. (Rom. viii. 17 ; Eph. i. 5.) Adop- 
tion is connected with effectual calling thus : In virtue 
of the union which takes place in effectual calling, be- 
lievers stand related to Christ as having a new kind 
of interest in God as his Father, and consequently their 
Father in him. (See John xx. 17 ; Eph. i. 3 ; Rom. viii. 
15 ; Gal. iii. 26.) 

SAKCTIFICA TION. 

Sanctification is renewal after the image of God. It 
is the end, so far as respects us, of our election ; it is a 
capital promise and distinguishing blessing of the cov- 
enant of grace, a precious fruit of redemption by the 
blood of Christ, the design of God in regeneration, the 
primary intention of justification, the scope of adop- 
tion, and absolutely necessary to glorification. So that 
in the sanctification of a sinner the great designs of all 
the divine operations respecting that most glorious of 
all the divine works, redemption, are united. Believers 
are " sanctified in Christ Jesus." (1 Cor. i. 2.) They 
are made " partakers of his holiness." (Heb. xii. 10.) 
How is effectual calling connected with sanctification ? 
In virtue of the union which takes place in effectual 
calling, believers are related to Christ as the Lord 
their strength, their quickening and influencing Head, 
who of God is made unto them sanctification. (1 Cor. 
i. 30.) 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 155 



AND THE SEVERAL BENEFITS. 

Of what other benefits do believers partake ? Every- 
thing essential to their comfort, usefulness and prepa- 
ration for heaven. (Ps. lxxxiv. 11.) They receive "the 
gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts ii. 38.) Everything 
shall turn to their advantage. (Rom. viii. 28.) They 
shall have a happy death. (Rev. xiv. 13.) They shall 
have a happy resurrection. (1 Cor. xv. 20.) 

IMJPM O VEMENT. 

In view of the benefits of which believers are par- 
takers, they ought through grace, in the use of all the 
means and ordinances of God's appointment, to " give 
all diligence to make their calling and election sure." 
(2 Pet. i. 10, 11.) They ought to walk holily. Theirs 
is a holy calling. (2 Tim. i. 9.) They are called to be 
saints. (Rom. i. 7 ; 1 Pet. i. 15.) When Antigonus was 
about to commit a vile sin, one reminded him that he 
was a king's son. Christians should ever remember 
that they are of the blood-royal of heaven. (1 Thess. 
iv. 7.) Holiness is the livery or silver star the godly 
wear. (Isa. lxiii. 18.) They are anointed with the con- 
secrating oil of the Spirit. (1 John ii. 20.) Sinners 
also should make it sure that they are effectually call- 
ed by coming at the call. " Behold, we come unto 
thee, for thou art the Lord our God." (Jer. iii. 22.) 

A minister of the seventeenth century, having finished prayer, 
looked round upon the congregation, and observing a young man 
who had just been put into one of the pews very uneasy in his 
situation, adopted the following singular expedient to detain 
him : Turning to one of the members of his church who sat in 
the gallery, he asked him this question aloud : " Brother, do you 
repent of coming to Christ?" " No, sir," he replied. "I never 



156 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



was happy till I came. I only repent that T did not come to 
him sooner." The minister then turned to the opposite gallery, 
and addressed himself to an aged member in the same manner : 
" Brother, do you repent of coming to Christ?" "No, sir," said 
he ; "I have known the Lord from my youth upward." He 
then looked down upon the young man, whose attention was 
fully engaged, and fixing his eyes upon him, said, " Young 
man, are you willing to come to Christ?" This unexpected 
address from the pulpit so affected him that he sat down and 
concealed his face. The person who sat next him encouraged 
him to rise and answer the question. The minister repeated, 
"Young man, are you willing to come to Christ?" With 
a tremulous voice he replied, "Yes, sir." "But when, sir?" 
added the minister in a solemn and loud tone. He mildly an- 
swered, " Now, sir." " Then stay," said he, " and learn the word 
of God, which you will find in 2 Cor. vi. 2: 1 Behold, noiv is the 
accepted time : behold, now is the day of salvation.' " By this 
sermon he was greatly affected, and came into the vestry, after 
the service, bathed in tears. The reluctance to stay which he 
had discovered, was occasioned by the strict injunction of his 
father, who threatened that if he went to hear the fanatics he 
would turn him out of doors. Having now heard the gospel, 
and being unable to conceal the feelings of his mind, he was 
afraid to meet his father. The minister sat down and wrote an 
affectionate letter to him, which had so good an effect that both 
father and mother came to hear for themselves. They were both 
brought to a knowledge of the truth, and together with their son 
were joyfully received into Christian communion. 

Question 33. — What is justification t 

Answer. — Justification is an act of God's free grace, 
wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as 
righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ 
imputed unto us, and received by faith alone. 

Justification, in common language, signifies a vindica- 
tion from any charge which affects the moral character, 



NOTES ON THE SHOETEE CATECHISM. 157 



but in theology it is used for the acceptance of one, by 
God, who is, and confesses himself to be, guilty. (See 
on Question 32.) We all need to be justified, for we 
are " all guilty before God." (Rom. iii. 19.) It is not 
enough that we justify ourselves. (Job ix. 20.) Nor 
is it enough that our neighbors justify us. (Luke xvi. 
15.) V 

GOB'S FREE GRACE. 

Justification is God's act. (Rom. viii. 33 ; Mark ii. 
7.) And it comes from his free grace. The cause 
(says an old writer), "the inward impellent motive or 
ground of justification, is the free grace of God." We 
are justified freely by his grace (Rom. iii. 24), which 
Ambrose expounds, " not of the grace within us, but 
the free grace of God." If it be asked how it is an 
act of free grace by which we are justified, since it is 
through the redemption that is in Christ, the answer 
is this : The redemption that is in Christ is the channel 
through which justifying grace freely flows to us. It 
was infinite grace that provided a Saviour, pure grace 
that led the soul to the Saviour and gave it an interest 
in him ; and therefore an act of free grace is clearly 
performed when the sinner is declared to be justified 
in virtue of his righteousness. To the Saviour him- 
self it is indeed an act of strict justice that his people 
should be justified, since he has paid the full price of 
it. But to his people, who receive the benefits of his 
redemption, it is grace from the foundation to the 
topstone. 

AN ACT. 

Justification is called an act, because, like the sen- 
tence or decision of a judge, it is done and completed 



158 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISII. 



at once, and not carried on gradually like a work of 
time. It denotes an act of jurisdiction, and not an 
inward change upon the soul. This is evident from its 
being opposed to condemnation, which all own to con- 
sist, not in the infusing of wickedness into a person, 
but in passing sentence upon him according to the de- 
merit of his crime. (Ps. cix. 7.) To justify a person, 
then, is not to make him righteous, but to declare him 
to be so, upon a legal ground, and trial of a judge. 
(Isa, xliii. 25, 26.) 

Our justification consists in two things : 1. In the 
pardon of all our sins. (Acts xiii. 39 ; see also Bom. 
viii. 1 ; Isa. lvii. 5 ; Heb. yiii. 12 ; Mic. vii. 19.) 2. 
In the acceptance of our persons as righteous. (Rom. 
v. 1,3; Eph. i. 6.) Wherein do pardon and acceptance 
differ? Pardon sustains us as innocent in law, and 
frees us from the sentence of death, but acceptance 
sustains us as positively and perfectly righteous in law, 
and entitles us to eternal life. (Eph. i. 6 ; 2 Cor. v. 
21.) In whose sight are we accepted as righteous ? In 
the sight of God as a just judge. (2 Cor. v. 21.) How 
can a holy and righteous God, whose judgment is ac- 
cording to truth, accept sinners as righteous ? 

ONIY FOR THE FIGHTEOUSXESS OF CHRIST 
IMPUTED TIN TO US. 

By " the righteousness of Christ " we are to under- 
stand his obedience and suffering. (Phil. ii. 8.) It is 
ordinarily distinguished into his obedience, active and 
passive. (Dan. ix. 4, etc.) By the former is meant his 
holiness of nature and righteousness of life. (Bom. v. 
19.) By the latter is meant his satisfactory sufferings, 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 159 

which are a full compensation for all the injury done 
to the honor of God by our sin. (Eph. v. 2.) Christ's 
righteousness is the only ground or medium of our 
justification. (Rom. iii. 24, 26, 28 ; Eph. ii. 9 ; Isa. 
lxiv. 6 ; 1 Cor. i. 30 ; Isa. liii. 11 ; 1 John i. 7 ; Rom. 
v. 9; iv. 25; Isa. xlv. 24.) How is it, then, said 
(James ii. 24)\ " Ye see then how that by works a man 
is justified, and not by faith only?" The answer is, 
Works declare us to be righteous before men, but they do 
not make us righteous before God. They are evidences 
of our justification, not causes. Besides being the fruits 
of a true and living faith (James ii. 18), they adorn 
the profession of the gospel (Tit. ii. 11, 12 ; iii. 8), 
stop the mouths of adversaries (1 Pet. ii. 15), and 
glorify God. (John xv. 8.) The righteousness of Christ 
is imputed to us when, though it be subjectively in 
Christ or the righteousness which he wrought, yet 
by God it is accounted ours as if we wrought it 
ourselves in our own persons. (Rom. iv. 6 ; viii. 4 ; 2 
Cor. v. 21 ; Rom. iii. 22, 24; Gal. iii. 12; Rom. v. 19.) 

RECEIVED BY I All 11 ALONE. 

The righteousness of the Redeemer is of no avail to 
those for whom he acted as Surety in his obedience and 
suffering, until it is applied. We must receive his right- 
eousness (Rom. v. 11), and receive it by faith, which is 
not only an assent to the testimony of God concerning 
his Son, but the reliance of the soul upon his atone- 
ment and righteousness as the only ground of accept- 
ance with God. (See Acts x. 43 ; xvi. 31 ; Hab. ii. 4 ; 
Jer. xxiii. 6.) The dignity is not in faith as a grace, 
but relatively as it lays holds on Christ's merits. We 



160 NOTES ON THE SHOETEE CATECHISM. 



are to understand the expression "that Abraham be- 
lieved God, and it was counted unto him for righteous- 
ness " (Rom. iv. 3) in consistency with Paul's uniform 
doctrine that a sinner is just before God only in the 
righteousness of Christ, and regard him here as using 
a metonymy by which the efficient is put for the effect, 
or the instrument for the end accomplished by it. Faith 
is merely the hand that receives and applies the right- 
eousness of Christ by which we are justified. 

INFERENCES. 

1. The happy state of believers. (Rom. v. 1.) 2. 
The excellence and necessity of faith. 3. The great- 
ness of sin is no bar to faith. (2 Cor. v. 21.) 4. Be- 
lievers ought to be exceedingly humble. God must 
have all the glory of their salvation. (Rom. iii. 27 ; 1 
Cor. xv. 10.) 

Bishop Asbury, being asked his thoughts on imputed right- 
eousness, observed: "Were I disposed to boast, my boasting 
would be found true. I obtained religion near the age of thirteen. 
At the age of sixteen I began to preach, and traveled some time 
in Europe. At twenty-six I left my native land and bade adieu 
to my weeping parents, and crossed the boisterous ocean to spend 
the balance of my days in a strange land, partly settled by sav- 
ages. I have traveled through heat and cold for forty-five 
years. In thirty years I have crossed the Allegheny Moun- 
tains fifty-eight times. I have often slept in the woods with- 
out necessary food or raiment. In the Southern States I have 
waded swamps and led my horse for miles, where I took colds 
that brought on the diseases which are now preying on my sys- 
tem and must soon terminate in death. But my mind is still 
the same — that it is through the merits of Christ I am to be 
saved." 

"It has been often observed that the schoolmen themselves, in 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 161 



their meditations and devotional writings, speak a language quite 
different from that which they use in their disputes and contro- 
versies ; and I had rather learn what men really think on this 
head from their prayers than from their writings. Nor do I re- 
member that I ever heard any good man in his prayers use any 
expression about justification wherein anything of self-right- 
eousness was introduced. Nor have I observed that any public 
liturgy, the mass-book excepted, guides men in their prayers 
before God to plead anything for their acceptance with him, or 
&s the means or condition thereof, but grace, mercy, the right- 
eousness and blood of Christ alone." — Owen. 

Question 34. — What is adoption f 

Answer. — Adoption is an act of God's free grace, 
whereby we are received into the number, and. have a 
right to all the privileges, of the sons of God. 

jLnoPTiosr. 

Two kinds of adoption are ascribed to God — common 
and special. Common or general adoption is his taking 
some part of mankind into his family of the visible 
Church. (Kom. ix. 4.) Circumcision was the badge 
of this under the Old Testament (Gen. xvii.), and bap- 
tism is so under the New. (Matt, xxviii. 19.) Special 
adoption is his bringing a child of the devil into his 
family of the invisible Church, and giving him a right 
to all the privileges of the sons of God. (Col. i. 13; 
Gal. iv. 5, 6 ; 2 Cor. vi. 18.) Though by nature the 
children of wrath (Eph. ii. 3), all believers are the 
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. (Gal. 
iii. 26.) 

AN ACT OF GOD'S FREE GRACE. 

Adoption is an act, because it is completed at once, 
and not carried on gradually like a work of time. (See 
n 



162 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



on Question 33.) Men do not deserve to be made 
God's children. (Jer. iii. 19.) They are altogether 
unworthy of such a favor. (Luke xv. 19.) It is be- 
stowed upon them notwithstanding their unworthiness. 
(2 Cor. vi. 18.) It is an act of God's free grace. (1 
John iii. 1.) By it they are received into the number 
of God's children. (Rom. ix. 26.) They are thus re- 
ceived upon their believing. The Greek word for 
" power" in John i. 12 signifies dignity and preroga- 
tive ; he dignifies them to become the sons of God. 

RECEIVED INTO THE NUMBER. 

The u number " of the sons of God is constituted by 
all the individuals who compose the whole body of the 
elect, both angels and men. For holy angels are also 
denominated the sons of God, as in Job, where it is said? 
" the morning stars sang together and all the sons of 
God shouted for joy." Holy angels, however, are the 
sons of God, so to speak, by birth, and not by adoption. 
They have retained that sinless and happy state in 
which they w r ere at first created. 

ALL THE PRIVILEGES OF TELE SONS OF GOD. 

Consider the cost of these privileges. (Gal. iv. 5.) 
Consider their greatness. Believers can call God 
Father. (Bom. viii. 15 ; Jer. iii. 19 ; Luke xv. 18.) 
They can look upon all good Christians as their 
brethren. (Matt, xxiii. 8.) They all make one family. 
(Eph. iii. 15.) 

" Oh, sweet it is through life's dark way 
In Christian fellowship to move, 
Illumed by one unclouded ray, 

And one in faith, in hope, in love !" 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 163 



They are privileged persons. They will be protected 
from temporal and spiritual evils. (Ps. cxxi. 7 ; xci. 
10.) All needful things shall be provided for them, 
both for soul and body. (Ps. xxxiv. 10.) They shall 
be bettered by affliction (Heb. xii. 10), as the furnace 
makes gold purer. They shall have an audience and 
an answer to their prayers. (1 John v. 14, 15.) They 
have an interest in all the promises, which are chil- 
dren's bread. The promises to them are sure ; God's 
truth, which is the highest pearl in his crown, is 
pledged for their fulfillment. In the dark night of 
desertion God has promised to be a sun to us in temp- 
tation, to enable us to tread down Satan. (Rom. xvi. 
20.) Does sin prevail ? He has promised to take 
away its kingly power (Rom. vi. 14.) Oh, the pre- 
ciousness of the promises ! Believers are heirs of them 
all. There is not a promise in the Bible but they may 
say, This is mine. To crown all, they have a sure title 
to the kingdom of heaven. (Rom. viii. 17.) 

IMPR O VEMENT. 

1. We should extol and magnify God's mercy. 
Adoption is a free gift ; we have enough in us to move 
God to correct us, but nothing to move him to adopt 
us ; therefore we should bless Him with our praises who 
hath blessed us in making us his sons and daughters. 
2. We should resemble our Father (1 John iii. 2), 
know his voice (John x. 4), delight in his company 
(Rom. viii. 15), be deeply concerned for his absence 
(Job xxiii. 3) and out of love to him that begat have 
great love to all them that are begotten of him. (1 John 
v. 1.) 3. We should submit to him. (Heb. xii. 9.) 



164 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



4. We should in trusting faith depend on him. (Matt. 
m. 32.) 

Mrs. Susan Huntington, upon the loss of her mother, writes: 
"Oil to be adopted, taken into God's family — to have him ex- 
ercise over us the endearing, the watchful attention and care 
of our omniscient and almighty Parent ! But he promises to 
be the Father of those only who, disclaiming all other depend- 
ence, fly to him through Jesus Christ, as their best, their only 
portion ; who feel the vanity of all human helpers, who love 
him with a filial and holy love, and who manifest their attach- 
ment by a hatred of sin which he hates, by a pursuit of the 
holiness which he enjoins, by a life of universal obedience to 
his law." 

A priest in Ireland, who was making the Scriptures his daily 
study, and was an advocate for the schools in that country, 
which most of the priests oppose, met one of the scholars going 
to school, and asked him what book it was he carried under his 
arm ? " It is a will, sir," said the boy. " What will ?" rejoin- 
ed the priest. "The last will and testament that Jesus Christ 
left to me and to all who desire to claim a title in the property 
therein bequeathed," replied the boy. " What did Christ leave 
you in that will?" "A kingdom, sir." "Where does that 
kingdom lie?" " It is the kingdom of heaven, sir." "And do 
you expect to reign as a king there?" "Yes, sir, as joint heir 
with Christ." "And will not every person get there as well 
as you?" "No, sir; none can get there but those that claim 
their title to that kingdom upon the ground of the will." The 
priest asked several other questions, to which the boy gave 
such satisfactory answers as quite astonished him. " Indeed," 
said he, " you are a good little boy ; take care of the book 
wherein God gives you such precious promises ; believe what 
he has said, and you will be happy here and hereafter." 

Question 35. — What is sanctification f 
Answer. — Sanctification is the work of God's free 
grace, ivhereby ice are renewed in the whole man after 



NOTES ON THE 8H03TEB CATECHISM. 165 



the image of God, and are enabled more and more to 
die unto sin, and live unto righteousness. 

WHEREIN DOES SANCTIFICATION DIFFEH, FROM 
JUSTIFICATION AND ADOPTION? 

1. Justification and adoption are acts of God with- 
out us. 2. Justification and adoption make only a 
change of relation — san^tifi cation makes a change of 
heart. In the first two a man's state is changed ; the 
other changes his character. (Ezek. xxxvi. 26 ; 1 Pet. 

iii. 4 ; Ps. li. 6.) 3. Justification and adoption are per- 
fect at first; sanctification is carried on by degrees 
to perfection. 

THE WORK OF GOD'S FREE GRACE. 

Sanctification is called a work, because it is not, like 
an act, completed at once, but is continued progress- 
ively through the whole life. (2 Cor. vii. 1 ; Col. i. 
10; 2 Cor. x. 15 ; Eph. ii. 10.) It is called a work 
of God's free grace, because God is the agent by whom 
it is performed, and his free grace is displayed in ef- 
fecting it, inasmuch as there is not an individual who 
is the subject of it but might have been justly left to 
perish in his sin and pollution. (Jude 1 ; 1 Pet. i. 2 ; 
Tit. iii. 5.) 

RENEWED IN THE WHOLE WAN AFTER THE 
IMAGE OF GOD. 

Sanctification is a renovation of the nature. (Eph. 

iv. 24.) None can have sanctified life who have not a 
renewed nature. (Matt. vii. 18.) By " the whole man " 
is meant both soul and body — all the powers of the one 
and members of the other. (2 Cor. vii. 1 ; 1 Thess. v. 
23.) Sanctification extends as far as original corrup- 



166 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



tion. Thus it is said, " The very God of peace sanctify 
you wholly." (1 Thess. v. 23.) He is not a sanctified 
person who is good only in some part, but who is all 
over sanctified ; hence in Scripture grace is called " a 
new man " (Col. iii. 10), not a new eye, or a new tongue, 
or a new will, or a new memory and affections, but a 
" new man." A good Christian, though he be sancti- 
fied but in part, yet is sanctified in every part. After 
w T hose image is the whole man renewed? After the 
image of God, consisting in knowledge, righteousness 
and holiness. (Col. iii. 10 ; Eph. iv. 24.) Before we 
are renewed in the whole man, we bear the image of 
the first Adam after the fall, having his nature corrupt- 
ed. (Gen. v. 3.) Nor can we be renewed in the whole 
man, without being united to the second Adam. (Acts 
xv. 9 ; xxvi. 18 ; 1 Cor. i. 2.) 

The fruit of the sanctification of our nature is the 
sanctification of our life. The first strengthens us in 
holy and generous dispositions, but in the last we exert 
that strength in holy thoughts, words and actions. 
(Matt. xii. 35.) Sanctification has two parts : 

I. DYING UNTO STN. 

This is a privative part — mortification, which lies in 
the purging out of sin. Sin is compared to leaven 
which sours, and to leprosy which defiles. Sanctifica- 
tion purges out " the old leaven." (1 Cor. v. 7.) 
Though it takes not away the life, yet it takes away 
the love of sin. 

II. LIVING UNTO RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

This is a positive part — vivification, which is the 
spiritual refining of the soul, called in Scripture " a 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 167 



renewing of the mind " (Kom. xii. 2) and a " partak- 
ing of the divine nature." (2 Pet. i. 4.) The priests 
in the law not only were washed in the great laver, 
but also adorned with glorious apparel (Ex. xxviii. 2) ; 
so sanctification not only washes from sin, but adorns 
with purity. 

MORE AND MORE. 

Sanctification, as already hinted, is progressive. It 
admits of degrees. It is compared to seed which grows, 
first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the 
ear. It is like the morning sun, which grows brighter 
to the full meridian. (See 2 Cor. vii. 1.) We are 
commanded to " grow in grace and in the knowledge 
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." (2 Pet. iii. 
18.) Like the ancient painter, who, when he had 
drawn a picture, was ever improving it with his pencil, 
we, in wdiom the image of God is draw T n but imperfectly, 
must still be drawing it in more lively colors. If our 
sanctification does not grow, it is because it does not 
live. It must go forward, and it will only be perfected 
in our glorification, when we shall be made free from 
sin and fully conformed to the image of God. (1 Cor. 
xiii. 10, 11.) 

NECESSITY OF SANCTIFICATION. 

It is necessary, not for justification before God, but 
for evidencing our justification and faith (James ii. 
10), for glorifying God (Matt. v. 16), for showing forth 
his praise (1 Pet. ii. 9), for adorning the doctrine of 
God our Saviour (Tit. ii. 10), for proving our union to 
Christ (John xv. 5, 6), for promoting inward peace 
and rejoicing (Ps. cxix. 165; 2 Cor. i. 12), for main- 



168 NOTES ON THE SHOETEE CATECHISM. 



taining fellowship and communion with God (John xiv. 
21, 23), for making us meet for heaven (Heb. xii. 14), 
for making us useful to men (Tit. iii. 8), and for stop- 
ping the mouth of calumny when we are reproached as 
evil-doers. (1 Pet. iii. 16.) 

EVIDENCES OF SANCTIFICATION. 

These are a cordial respect to all God's command- 
ments, loving them because they are holy ; a hatred of 
all sin, and avoiding the appearance of evil ; a spirit of 
watchfulness and warfare against sin ; a delight in doing 
good ; communion with God ; a conversation becoming 
the gospel ; an habitual use of the precious promises of 
God, particularly with a view to increasing holiness ; 
and a constant improvement of the blood of Christ by 
faith and prayer for cleansiug from the filth as well as 
the guilt of sin. 

MOTIVES TO SANCTIFICATION. 

These are the holiness, command and love of God, 
Christ's dying to save and sanctify us, and the great 
dignity of holiness. (1 Pet. i. 16 ; 1 John iv. 19 ; Tit. 
ii. 14.) Sanctification is also a great privilege as well 
as duty. (Phil. ii. 12, 1 3.) It is the end of Christ's of- 
fices, death, exaltation, and of all the precepts, prom- 
ises and providences of God. (Tit. ii. 14 ; Heb. ii. 10, 

no 

John Newton, in his old age hearing this Scripture repeated, 
" By the grace of God I am what I am," paused for some mo- 
ments, and then offered this affecting soliloquy: "I am not 
what I ought to be. Ah, how imperfect and deficient ! I am 
not what I wish to be. I abhor that which is evil, and I would 
cleave to that which is good. I am not what I hope to be. 
Soon, soon shall I put off mortality, and with mortality all sin 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 169 



and imperfection. Though I am not what I ought to be, what 
I wish to be, and what I hope to be, yet I can truly say I am 
not what I once was, a slave to sin and Satan ; I can heartily 
join with the apostle, and acknowledge, By the grace of God I 
am what I am.' " 

Question 36. — What are the benefits which in this 
life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, 
and sanctification f s. 

Answer. — The benefits which in this life do accom- 
pany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctifica- 
tion, are, assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy 
in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance 
therein to the end. 

There are five benefits springing from the sources 
specified. They all relate to this life, but there are 
others in death, and the best of all are in the life to 
come. 

1. ASSURANCE OF GOD'S JuOVE. 

This certainly is not a bare conjectural and probable 
persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope (Heb. vi. 11, 
19), but an infallible assurance of faith founded upon 
the divine truth of the promises of salvation (Heb. vi. 
17, 18), the inward evidence of those graces unto which 
these promises are made (2 Pet. i. 4, 5, 10, 11 ; 1 John 
iii. 14 ; i. 3 ; 2 Cor. i. 12), the testimony of the Spirit 
of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the 
children of God (Rom. viii. 15, 16), which Spirit is the 
earnest of our inheritance whereby we are sealed to 
the day of redemption. (Eph. i. 13, 14; 2 Cor. i. 21, 
22 ; 2 Pet. i. 10.) " I know whom I have believed," 
said Paul. (2 Tim. i. 12.) Here was the faith of sense, 
the reflex act of faith. And again, " Christ hath loved 



170 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

me." (Gal. ii. 20). Here was faith flourishing into 
assurance. This assurance is an unspeakable comfort. 
(Rom. v. 5.) What is the difference between the as- 
surance of faith and the assurance of sense? The object 
of the assurance of faith is " Christ in the promise " 
(James ii. 23), but the object of the assurance of sense 
is " Christ formed in the soul" (2 Tim. ii. 12) ; or, which 
is the same thing, the assurance of faith is founded on 
the infallible word of God, who cannot lie, but the as- 
surance of sense upon the person's present experience 
of the communications of divine love. Is personal as- 
surance absolutely necessary to salvation ? No ; a man 
may be saved, and in Christ, without it. (Isa. 1. 10.) 
It is by faith we are saved, not by the assurance 
of it. What sins usually eclipse our assurance ? Neg- 
ligence in duty starves it (2 Pet. i. 10), and sinning 
against light stabs it. (Ps. Ii. 8.) 

2. PEACE OF CONSCIENCE. 

Peace of conscience is a holy quiet of mind arising 
from the views of our being in favor with God. (Rom. 
v. 1. See also John iii. 21 ; Isa. xxxii. 17 ; John xiv. 
27.) Unbelievers cannot have peace of conscience, but 
many of them have a false peace. (Isa. lvii. 21.) The 
difference between true and false peace of conscience is, 
that the one stirs up against sin, the other encourages 
in sin. (2 Cor. i. 12.) Those that are justified should 
labor after peace. (Ps. cxvi. 7.) It should govern them. 
(Col. iii. 15.) It will preserve them. (Phil. iv. 7.) It 
will comfort them in the day of trouble. (2 Cor. i. 
12.) It is therefore their interest to secure it. (Acts 
xxiv. 16.) 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 171 



3. JOT IN THE HOLT GHOST. 

Joy in the Holy Ghost is that inward elevation of 
soul which flows from the lively exercise of faith, feast- 
ing on Christ in the promise. This joy is described in 
Scripture as hidden, permanent and unspeakable. The 
peculiar seasons of this joy are the times of special 
manifestation after a dark night of desertion, the time 
of tribulation for Christ's sake, the time of God's re- 
markable appearance for his Church, and sometimes in 
and about the time of death. But it is not confined to 
such seasons, and may be experienced at other times. 
By its humbling, sanctifying and quickening effects it 
distinguishes itself from all the false joys of fanaticism 
and hypocrisy. (See 1 Pet. i. 8 ; Phil. iv. 4 ; Neh. viii. 
10 ; Rom. v. 3 ; Ps. iv. 7.) 

4. TNCJREASE OF a HACK. 

A Christian grows in the exercise of grace. His lamp 
is burning and shining ; therefore we read of a lively 
hope. (1 Pet. i. 3.) He grows in the degree of grace. 
He goes " from strength to strength " (Ps. lxxxiv. 7), 
from " faith to faith " (Rom. i. 17), and his " love abounds 
more and more." (Phil. i. 9.) Grace is " seed " (1 John 
iii. 9), and it is the nature of seed to grow. It does 
not lie in the heart as a stone in the earth, but as seed 
in the earth, which will spring up, first the blade, and 
then the ear, and then the full corn in the ear. It can- 
not but grow from the sweetness and excellency of it. 
He that has grace is never weary of it, but still would 
have more. (Job xvii. 9; Prov. iv. 18 ; 2 Pet. iii. 18; 
Phil. iii. 14; Matt, xxv. 29 ; Hos. xiv. 5.) 



172 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



" Nearer, my God, to thee, 
Nearer to thee. 
E'en though it be a cross 

That raiseth me, 
Still all my song shall be, 
Nearer, my God, to thee, 
Nearer to thee." 

5. PERSEVERANCE THEREIN TO THE END. 

How do we know that all truly justified, adopted and 
sanctified persons do persevere in grace to the end, and 
shall assuredly attain the heavenly inheritance? 1. 
From God's everlasting, unchangeable love, and his 
faithfulness to his promises of perseverance, as well 
as of heaven, which he has made to them. 2. From 
their union and relation to Christ, and his undertaking 
for them. 3. From the constant abode and indwelling 
of the Spirit of God in them. 4. From the nature of 
grace, which is an abiding seed that can never be 
totally extirpated. (Phil. i. 6 ; Luke viii. 15 ; 1 John 
ii. 19; Rom. viii. 30; Ps. xxxvii. 24: Luke x. 42; 
Rom. xi. 29; 1 Pet. i. 5; John x. 29 ; 1 Cor. x. 13; 
Jer. xxxii. 40 ; Luke xxii. 32 ; 1 John ii. 27 ; Ps. 
lxxxix. 34; 2 Tim. iv. 18.) 

" Grace led my roving feet 

To tread the heav'nly road, 
And new supplies each hour I meet 
While pressing on to God." 

IMPR O VEMENT. 

What improvement should be made of the connection 
of the benefits and blessings that " accompany and flow 
from justification, adoption and sanctifi cation " ? It 
should excite in us a desire after the saving knowledge 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 173 



of the truth as it is in Jesus, in whom all the lines of 
divine truth meet, as in their centre (Eph. iv. 21), and 
to admire the infinite goodness and wisdom of God, 
who has so linked all the blessings of the covenant into 
one another, that they who are possessed of one are 
possessed of all. (1 Cor. iii. 22, 23.) 

The Eev. Samuel Pierce toward the close of his last and very 
painful sickness writes to Dr. Byland : " Now I see the value of 
the religion of the cross. It is a religion for a dying sinner. It 
is all that the most guilty, the most wretched, can desire. Yes, 
I taste its sweetness and enjoy its fullness with all the gloom of 
a dying bed before me. ... I was delighted the other day, in 
re-perusing the Pilgrim's Progress, to observe that when Christian 
came to the top of hill Difficulty he was put to sleep in a cham- 
ber called Peace. 1 Why, how good is the Lord of the way to 
me !' said I. 1 1 have not reached the summit of the hill yet, 
but, notwithstanding, he puts me to sleep in the chamber of 
Peace every night.' . . . True, it is often a chamber of pain, but 
let pain be as formidable as it may, it has never .yet been able 
to expel that peace which the great Guardian of Israel has ap- 
pointed to keep my heart and mind through Christ Jesus." 

Question 37. — What benefits do believers receive 
from Christ at death? 

Answer. — The soids of believers are at their death 
made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into 
glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, 
do rest in their graves till the resurrection. 

JLT THEIR DEATH. 

" Death has passed upon all men, because all have 
sinned." But for the righteous an atonement has been 
made, by which their guilt has been expiated. How, 
then, it may be asked, comes it to pass that they are sub- 



174 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

ject to death, which is acknowledged to be the penalty 
of sin ? But with equal reason may it be asked, Why 
are believers, since Christ has atoned for their sins, not 
completely delivered from the pollution of sin as soon 
as they believe ? Why does it remain in them to taint 
their duties and to impede their consolation ? Why 
are they still exposed to the malignity of Satan ? Why 
are they compelled to carry a heavy burden of afflic- 
tion? These things are as inconsistent with our no- 
tions of the effect of a perfect expiation of sin, as their 
subjection to temporal death. Besides, in the present 
state we must walk by faith, and not by sight ; in 
other words, we are to be regulated in the choice and 
practice of religion not by the evidence of sense, but 
by the evidence of testimony. But were it known ex- 
actly, by the exemption of the righteous from temporal 
death, who are the objects of God's love and who are 
not — that is, were it known in any other way than by 
the testimony of Scripture — the province of faith would 
be greatly circumscribed, and we should then see what 
we are now called to believe. Believers die in virtue 
of the promise of the covenant of grace, in which death 
is made over to them deprived of its sting, as a part 
of Christ's legacy. (1 Cor. iii. 22.) 

MADE PERFECT IJV HOLINESS. 

The souls of believers do not die with their bodies. 
They go to a " house eternal in the heavens." (2 Cor. 
v. 1.) They cannot properly die, for they are spiritual, 
and not constituted of parts, and so cannot be dissolved. 
(Matt. x. 28 ; Luke xxiv. 39.) God will not suffer 
them to return to nothing. They are active after the 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 175 



death of the body. (Heb. xii. 23.) He has promised 
eternal life to his saints. (Matt. xxv. 46.) He called 
himself the " God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and 
the God of Jacob " long after their death, as an evi- 
dence that their souls were living. (Matt. xxii. 32.) 
Are believers. perfect in this life? No. (Phil. iii. 12.) 
Why must the soul be made perfect at death ? Because 
the purity of the heavenly state admits no sin or imper- 
fection. (Rev. xxi. 27.) What is the state of perfect 
holiness ? Freedom from sin or the least inclination 
to sin. (Eph. v. 27.) In what else does perfection 
consist? In the attainment of the highest measures 
and degrees of holiness of which a creature is capable. 
(Eph. iv. 12, 13.) Holiness is the beauty of God and 
angels ; it makes heaven. What is happiness but the 
quintessence of holiness ? Here a Christian's grace is 
imperfect ; he cannot write a copy of holiness without 
blotting. He receives but the "first-fruits of the 
Spirit." (Rom. viii. 23.) But at death believers shall 
arrive at perfection of grace ; then their sun shall be 
in its meridian splendor ; then shall they not need to 
pray for increase of grace, for they shall be as the an- 
gels ; their light shall be clear as well as their joy 
full. (Heb. xii. 23 ; 1 Cor. xiii. 12 ; Eph. iv. 13 ; Rev. 
xxii. 11.) 

" The ransomed shout to their glorious King, 
Where no sorrow shades the soul as they sing, 
But a sinless and joyous song they raise, 
And their voice of prayer is eternal praise." 

JPJLSS INTO GLOKY. 

The souls of believers at death pass into — 1. A glori- 
ous place — their Father's house in heaven, where there 



176 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

are mansions prepared for them by Christ. (John xiv. 
2.) 2. A glorious company — the company of God and 
Christ, of angels and of "the spirits of just men 
made perfect." (Heb. xii. 23. See also 2 Cor. v. 6-8 ; 
Heb. xii. 22-24.) The seeing of God, the loving of 
God, and being beloved of God, will cause a jubila- 
tion of spirit and create such holy raptures of joy as 
are " unspeakable and full of glory." (1 Pet. i. 8.) 
And as in heaven knowledge is perfected, they shall 
not only know their godly friends and relations, but 
know even the glorified saints whom they never saw 
before, and be infinitely delighted in each other's com- 
pany. (Matt. xvii. 4.) 3. A glorious state — a state of 
dignity and honor, reigning as kings, with white robes 
and golden crowns. (2 Tim. iv. 8.) They shall have 
" a weight of glory," and an " eternal " weight. (2 
Cor. v. 17.) Eternity is written upon their joys; 
their garlands, made of the flowers of Paradise, fade 
not. (1 Pet. v. 4.) 

IMMEDIATEL T. 

The souls of believers do not sleep with their bodies 
— do not enter into an intermediate state or into a place 
which the Church of Rome calls purgatory. " We are 
confident," says Paul, " and willing rather to be absent 
from the body and to be present with the Lord." He 
had said before, " Therefore we are always confident, 
knowing that whilst we are at home in the body Ave 
are absent from the Lord." (2 Cor. v. 8 and 6.) It is 
impossible to express in a clearer manner the imme- 
diate transition of the soul from its present habitation 
into the presence of Christ. What detains us from his 
presence is our continuance in the body. What intro- 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 177 



duces us into it is our departure from the body. Our 
presence with him succeeds our absence from the body, 
without any interval. (See also Acts vii. 59 ; Luke xxiii. 
43 ; 2 Cor. v. 1 ; Phil. i. 23 ; Luke xvi. 22.) 

THEIR BODIES BEING STILE UNITED TO CHRIST. 

The bodies of believers sleep in Jesus. They are a 
part of Christ's mystical body. (1 Thess. iv. 14 ; Rev. 
xiv. 13.) Even death does not break the bond of this 
union. The grave is their dormitory, where they quiet- 
ly repose in Christ. There they rest from all toil and 
trouble (Job iii. 17), and will continue to rest until 
awakened by the trumpet of the archangel. The Spirit 
of Christ keeps possession of every particle of their 
dust, which he will quicken and rebuild as his temple 
at the last day. (Rom. viii. 11.) 

THE RESURRECTION. 

The doctrine of the resurrection is plainly revealed. 
(Acts xxiv. 15 ; Job xix. 26 ; 1 Cor. xv. 22 ; Dan. xii. 
2 ; John v. 28, 29.) The dead shall be raised with the 
same bodies which they had when alive before. If they 
were not, it could in no proper sense be called a resur- 
rection, but a new creation. Besides, the first body was 
an instrument of righteousness or sin, and therefore 
shall share in the reward or punishment. 

" My first convictions on the subject of religion were confirmed 
by observing that really religious persons had some solid happi- 
ness among them, which I felt the vanities of the world could 
not give. I shall never forget standing by the bedside of my 
sick mother. 'Are not you afraid to die ?' I asked. ' No.' * No ! 
Why does the uncertainty of another state give you no con- 
12 



178 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



cern ?' ' Because God has said, " Fear not. When thou passest 
through the waters I will be with thee ; and through the rivers, 
they shall not overflow thee." Let me die the death of the 
righteous.' " — R. Cecil. 

The Rev. John Wesley, after a long life of great labor and 
usefulness, being sixty-live years in the ministry, concluded his 
course, as might have been expected, in peace and holy joy. 
Having been laid on the bed from whence he rose no more, he 
called to those who were with him to "pray and praise." Soon 
after he again called upon them to " pray and praise," and taking 
each by the hand and affectionately saluting them, bade them 
farewell. Attempting afterward to say something which they 
could not understand, he paused a little, and then, with all the 
remaining strength he had, said : " The best of all is, God is 
with us." And again, lifting his hand, he repeated the same 
words in a holy triumph, " The best of all is, God is with us." 

Question 38. — What benefits do believers receive 
from Christ at the resurrection? 

Answer. — At the resurrection, believers, being raised 
up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted 
in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the 
full enjoying of God to all eternity. 

The benefits here specified may be considered in 
three respects : 1. In respect of the resurrection itself. 
2. In respect of the day of judgment after the resur- 
rection. 3. In respect of heaven after the day of 
judgment. 

MAIS ED UP IN GIOBT. 

The doctrine of the resurrection is a fundamental 
article of our faith. The apostle puts it among the 
principles of the doctrine of Christ. (Heb. vi. 2.) (For 
proof that the bodies of believers will be raised see 1 
Cor. xv. 52 ; Acts xxvi. 8 ; 1 Cor. xv. 13 ; John xi. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 179 

25 ; Matt. xxii. 29.) It must not be supposed, how- 
ever, that none but the bodies of the righteous will be 
raised. All that are iu the graves shall hear Christ's 
voice and come forth. (John v. 28 ; Acts xxiv. 15 ; 
Rev. xx. 12.) Some hold that the soul will be clothed 
with a new body, but then it were improper to call it a 
resurrection ; it would be rather a creation. (See Job 
xix. 26 ; 1 Cor. xv. 53.) What is meant by the 
" glory" in which the bodies of believers shall be rais- 
ed ? They shall be incorruptible, glorious, powerful 
and spiritual bodies. (1 Cor. xv. 42-44.) They shall 
leave all the seeds of corruption behind them in the 
grave, be for ever incapable of any pain, sickness or 
death, and have an everlasting youth and vigor. (Isa. 
xxxiii. 24.) They shall " be fashioned like unto his 
glorious body," full of splendor and brightness. (Phil, 
iii. 21 ; Matt. xiii. 43.) They shall be able to bear up 
under an exceeding and eternal weight of glory, and 
" rest not day and night " in praising and serving God. 
(2 Cor. iv. 17 ; Rev. iv. 8.) Though they shall retain 
the essential properties of bodies, yet they shall have 
spirit-like qualities and endowments, being of an act- 
ive nature and of a most refined constitution. 

OPENLY ACKNOWLEDGED AND ACQUITTED. 

There must be a day of judgment, that there may 
be a day of retribution, when God may render to every 
one according to his work. Such a day is revealed in 
the Scriptures. (Rom. xiv. 10; Eccles. xii. 14; Ps. 
xcvi. 13 ; Dan. vii. 9, 10.) What is meant by Christ's 
acknowledging believers ? That he will own the special 
relation between him and them. (See Matt. xxv. 34- 



180 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

40 ; x. 32; Mai. iii. 17 ; John xii. 26.) He will con- 
fess them before his Father, angels and men. (Rev. iii. 
5.) He will openly acknowledge them, to remove all 
aspersions and censures that now are cast upon them. 
(Isa. lxvi. 5.) This acknowledgment will put a full 
end to all doubts, fears and jealousies of themselves. 
(1 Cor. iv. 15.) It will also produce in them joy un- 
speakable and transcendent ; hence called time of re- 
freshing. (Acts iii. 19.) What is meant by Christ's 
acquitting believers ? His declaring the pardon of all 
their iniquities and the injustice of all the calumnies 
and reproaches ever cast upon them. In this life be- 
lievers are acquitted secretly, out of the sight of the 
world, and frequently without any intimation of it to 
themselves ; but then the acquittal shall be pronounced 
in the most solemn and public manner. (2 Thess. i. 
10 ; Matt. xxv. 35.) 

MADE PERFECTLY BLESSED. 

The perfect blessedness of believers in heaven will 
consist — 1. In their perfect freedom from all evil, and 
that both of sin and misery. (Eph. v. 27.) 2. In 
their full enjoyment of God, the chiefest good. This 
enjoyment inrplies — 1. That they shall have the glo- 
rious presence of God with them. (Rev. xxi. 3.) 2. 
That they shall have the immediate and beatific vision 
of his face. (Rev. xxii. 4; 1 Cor. xiii. 12; 1 John iii. 
2.) 3. That they shall have both a full persuasion 
and sense of God's love to them, and perfect love in 
their hearts toward him, which necessarily results or 
arises from the vision of God in heaven. 4. That 
they shall have fullness of joy. (Ps. xvi. 11 ; Jude 24.) 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 181 



4X1 JET EH NITY. 

The crowning glory of the happiness of believers in 
heaven is the eternity of its duration. (Matt. xxv. 46.) 
They then enter upon a career which will never be 
finished. Ages will run on more rapidly than hours 
among mortals, but thousands of ages will take noth- 
ing from their felicity. God has made them by his 
gift what he himself is in his own nature, and of them, 
as well as of him, it may be said that their years shall 
have no end. Whilst all saints will be perfectly happy 
in heaven, yet they will be as vessels of different sizes 
which are all full, although some contain a greater 
quantity than others. The following passages teach a 
diversity of degrees of glory : Matt. xxv. 15 ; 2 Cor. 
ix. 6 ; Dan. xii. 3. 

Lord Henry Oth o, a follower of John Huss, having received 
sentence of condemnation from his popish judges, said : " Kill 
my body, disperse my members whither you please, yet do I 
believe that my Saviour will gather them together again, and 
clothe them with skin, so that with these eyes I shall see him, 
with these ears I shall hear him, with this tongue I shall praise 
liim, and rejoice with this heart for ever." As he was going to 
the scaffold he said to the minister, " I am sure that Christ Jesus 
will meet my soul with his angels. This death, I know, shall 
not separate me from him." After he had prayed silently, he 
said, " Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. Have 
pity on me through Jesus Christ, and let me see thy glory 
and so he received the stroke of the sword. 

An infidel and profligate youth, who had formerly disregarded 
all the pious injunctions of his parents, on one occasion went 
with them to hear a popular minister who had come to the town 
where they dwelt. The subject of discourse was the heaven- 
ly state ; and the minister described in glowing language the 
nature of the happiness, employment and company of the spirits 



182 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



of just men made perfect. On his return home the youth ex- 
pressed his admiration of the speaker's talents. "But," said 
he, turning to his mother, "I was surprised that while the smile 
of approbation was visible in the countenances of all around 
me, you and my father appeared gloomy and sad, and more 
than once were in tears. I was surprised," continued the youth, 
" because I thought that if any could claim an interest in the sub- 
ject, you were the happy persons." "Ah, my son," replied the 
anxious mother, "I did weep ; but it was not because I feared my 
own personal interest in the subject, or that of your affectionate 
and pious father. I wept when I thought of you. It is the fear 
that you, the son of my love and the son of my vows, would 
be banished at last from the delights of the celestial paradise, 
which caused my bursting heart to seek vent in tears." " I 
supposed," said the father, turning to his wife, " those were your 
reflections. The thought of the spiritual condition of our son 
forcibly impressed my own heart, and made me weep too." 
The pointed yet cautious and tender admonition of the mother, 
wisely sanctioned by the husband, found its way to the heart of 
her child, and terminated in his saving conversion to God. 

Question 39. — What is the duty which God requireth 
of man? 

Answer. — The duty which God requireth of man is 
obedience to his revealed will. 

The maxim so often heard from the lovers of lax 
principles, " that it is no matter what a man believes 
if his life be good," is a compound of absurdity and 
falsehood. In the sight of God principle is every- 
thing, and principle refers to the understanding as 
well as to the heart. It is consequently of infinite 
importance that our faith, as to the essentials of re- 
ligion, be right, because this is the foundation and 
vital spring of duty. It is also evident that the 
authors of our Catechism acted with great propriety 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 183 



in stating the essential articles of faith, or the things 
to be believed, before they gave a detail of duties, or 
things to be done. 

OBLIGATIONS TO OBEDIENCE. 

Our obligation of obedience to God arises from his 
universal supremacy and sovereign authority over us 
as rational creatures (Lev, xviii. 5), who depend en- 
tirely upon him for life and breath and all things. 
(Acts xvii. 25.) Christians have a motive, above oth- 
ers, to the duties of obedience, inasmuch as they have 
the revelation of God's free love, mercy and grace in 
Christ bringing salvation to them, which should teach 
them to live soberly, righteously and godly in this pres- 
ent world. (Tit. ii. 11, 12.) 

II I I E OF OBEDIENCE. 

The rule of our obedience to God is his revealed will 
in his word. (2 Tim. iii. 16; Mic. vi. 8; Isa. viii. 20.) 
The secret will of God is his purpose or decree respect- 
ing that which comes to pass. (Eph. i. 11.) We are 
not to regard fulfilling of it as any part of required 
obedience, for it is unknown to us. It is the rule of 
God's conduct, not of ours. It ascertains future events, 
but does not prescribe our duty. God only can require 
obedience of man for his own sake. He is the only 
Lord of the conscience ; and though we are to obey 
magistrates, parents and masters, yet we are chiefly to 
do this because God requires us so to do, and if they 
command us to do anything which Gods forbids, we 
are to refuse obedience, and to obey God rather than 
any man in the world. (Acts iv. 19.) 



184 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



CHARACTERISTICS OF TRUE OBEDIENCE. 

Obedience must be — 1. Sincere. "Fear the Lord, 
and serve him in sincerity and in truth." (Josh. xxiv. 
14.) 2. Universal. " Then shall I not be ashamed, 
when I have respect unto all thy commandments." (Ps. 
cxix. 6.) 3. Devout and fervent. " Fervent in spirit, 
serving the Lord." (Rom. xii. 11.) 4. Free and cheer- 
ful. " If ye be willing and obedient." (Isa. i. 19.) 5. 
With delight. " I delight in the law of God after the 
inward man." (Rom. vii. 22.) 6. Constant. " Be thou 
in the fear of the Lord all the day long." (Prov. xxiii. 
17 ; Ps. cvi. 3.) 7. In aod through Christ. " He made us 
accepted in the Beloved." (Eph. i. 6.) Not our obedi- 
ence, but Christ's merit, procures acceptance. We must 
in every part of worship and service present Christ to 
God in the arms of our faith. Unless we serve God 
thus, we rather provoke than please him. 

PRACTICAL INFERENCES. 

1. It is highly sinful and dangerous to disobey the 
known will of God in anything. (Rom. i. 18.) 2. 
That is a blessed man who conscientiously labors to 
obey the will of God so far as he can discover it. 
(John xiii. 17 ; Gal. vi. 16.) 3. It is highly sinful 
and dangerous to give commands to others, or obey 
commands from others, which are not according to 
God's command. (Hos. v. 11 ; Jer. v. 31.) 

Dr. F , the chaplain of Newgate, relates the incident, that 

when a reprieve arrived for one under sentence of death, he re- 
turned a Bible and prayer-book, which the doctor had given him, 
with his thanks, observing that he had no further need of them 
now. So much is it beyond the power or disposition of unas- 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 185 

sisted nature to attend any longer to the requisitions of God than 
while the terrors of the law and the dread of wrath are impend- 
ing, and so little is this state of feeling worth, if that be all ! 

Antonio Guevaza used to say "that heaven would be filled 
with such as had done good works, and hell with such as in- 
tended to do them." A very suitable hint to those who put off 
their convictions to what they think will be a more convenient 
season. 

As Mrs. Judson one day was reading with a Burman convert 
Christ's Sermon on the Mount, he was deeply impressed and 
unusually solemn. " These words," said he, " take hold of my 
very heart ; they make me tremble. Here God commands us 
to do everything that is good in secret, not to be seen of men. 
How unlike our religion is this ! When Burmans make offer- 
ings to the pagodas, they make a great noise with drums and 
musical instruments, that others may see how good they are. 
But this religion makes the mind fear God. It makes it, of its 
own accord, fear sin." 

Question 40. — What did God at first reveal to 
man for the rule of his obedience f 

Answer. — The rule which God at first revealed to 
man for his obedience, was the moral la,w. 

LAWS OF GOD— HOW DISTINGUISHED. 

" The chief difference," says Ursinus, " between the 
moral law and the ceremonial and judicial law lies in 
their obligation, manifestation, duration and use. The 
moral law is known naturally, binds all men, and that 
perpetually ; it is different, however, with the ceremo- 
nial and judicial law. The moral law requires obedi- 
ence which is both internal and external ; the others 
merely require that which is external. The precepts 
of the moral law are general, having respect to all men, 
whoever they may be ; the others are special, and do 



186 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

not thus apply to all men. The prece]Dts of the moral 
law are the ends of the others, whilst they again are 
subservient to those which are moral. The ceremonial 
and civil laws were also types and figures of other 
things for which they were instituted ; it is different, 
however, with the moral law. The moral law does 
not give place to the ceremonial ; it, on the other 
hand, gives place to the moral." 

THE MOJtAL JO AW. 

God revealed this " rule of obedience " to Adam by 
writing it on his heart in creating him. (Gen. i. 27 ; 
Eccles. vii. 29.) It is called a law, because it not only 
directs, but binds us, to our duty. As the moral law 
was at first revealed that it might be a rule of man's 
obedience, so it continues to be to all men, in every na- 
tion, to the end of the world. Is it asked, " How can 
the moral law be a rule of obedience to the heathen 
world, who are without the light of the Scriptures to 
make it known to them?" The answer is, Though 
without the light of the Scriptures there cannot be so 
clear a discovery of the moral law, yet by the light 
of Nature it is made known to all nations in some 
measure, sufficient to leave the very heathen without 
excuse for their disobedience. (Rom. ii. 12, 14, 15; 
Jude 10.) 

THE It UL /; ANT) THE ME AS ON. 

■ It should be observed that the moral law is to be re- 
garded not only as the rule of our obedience, but also 
as the reason of it. We must not only do what is com- 
manded and avoid what is forbidden in the law, but 
we must also do good for this very reason, that God 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 187 



requires it, and avoid evil because he forbids it. "I 
am the Lord your God ; ye shall therefore keep my stat- 
utes and my judgments." (Lev. xviii. 4, 5.) 

PROPERTIES OF THE MORAL JO AW. 

It is spiritual and holy, just and good, perfect and 
exceediug broad. (Rom. vii. 12, 14 ; Ps. xix. 7-10.) 
It is spiritual, reaching to our hearts, and requiring 
obedience from spiritual motives in a spiritual manner 
and to spiritual ends. (Luke i. 74 ; Jer. iv. 14.) It is 
holy, being the transcript of God's holiness, command- 
ing everything holy and condemning all impurity. (1 
Pet. i. 15, 16; Matt. v. 48.) It is just, binding us to 
give every one his due, and requiring no more than 
God originally gave man ability to perform. (Ps. cxix. 
128.) It is good ; the keeping of it tends greatly to 
God's glory and our advantage. It is perfect, a com- 
plete standard of right and wrong, requiring every 
duty in the highest degree. (Matt. v. 48 ; Ps. cxix. 9.) 
It is exceeding broad ; it binds our whole nature at all 
times and in every situation, and requires many duties 
in every case and season. 

IS LIFE ATTAINABLE BY OBEDIENCE? 

If any could yield perfect obedience to the moral 
law, he might attain life thereby, but all being sinful 
by nature, perfect obedience is impossible, and life 
thereby is unattainable; therefore the law was not 
given to man after his fall, that it might give life. 
(Gal. iii. 12, 21, 22; Rom. iii. 19.) "Wherefore," 
says the apostle, "the law was our schoolmaster to 
bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by 
faith." (Gal. iii. 24 ; Rom. x. 4.) As we are to prize the 



188 XOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



moral law highly as the rule of life (Ps. cxix. 105), so 
we are to bless God for the gospel dispensation by 
which we can attain to justification and salvation. 
(Heb. xii. 22.) 

OBLIGATION OF THE MORAL LAW ON BEIIEVEBS. 

The moral law is abrogated to believers as a cove- 
nant of works. It is also abrogated to them as to its 
condemning power. (Gal. iii. 13; Rom. ii. 1.) But as 
it has a power of binding the conscience as a standing 
rule for our obedience, it remains still in its full vigor 
and authority. It still directs us as to what we ought 
to do, binds the conscience to the performance of it, 
brings guilt upon the soul if we transgress it, and re- 
duces us to the necessity either of bitter repentance or 
of eternal condemnation. Jesus Christ has adopted 
the moral law into his religion — re-enacted it, if we may 
so speak, by his authority — and commanded all his dis- 
ciples to conform to it. 

A Good Sort of Cowardice. — To be such a coward as not 
to dare to break any one of God's commandments is to be the 
most valiant person in the world, for such a one will choose the 
greatest evil of suffering before the least of sinning, and, how- 
ever the jeering Ishmaels of the world may be ready to re- 
proach and to laugh one to scorn for " this niceness and scrupu- 
losity," as they term it, yet the choice is a very wise one. 

A certain preacher in the west of England, remarkable for 
his opposition to the moral law as a rule of life to believers, 
was preaching on a week-day evening at a village in a cottage 
full of poor people, when, declaiming in his usual way against 
the law, and seeming at a loss for expressions sufficient to de- 
grade it, he said, ''The law is dead; it is fallen; it is done 
with." Having just then occasion to use his handkerchief, lie 
spread it out, and holding a corner in each hand, said, " Th« 



NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHTSM. 189 



law, my friends, has fallen down before the believer like this 
handkerchief;" then letting it go from his hands, it unfortu- 
nately fell on the candles and extinguished them, leaving the 
preacher and all his hearers in darkness — a very just though 
accidental representation of that mental and practical darkness 
which such preaching is likely to produce. 

Question 41. — Wherein is the moral law summarily 
comprehended f 

Answer. — The moral law is summarily comprehended 
in the ten commandments. 

"THE TEN COMMANDMENTS." 

The popular Dame " Ten Commandments " is not that 
of Scripture. In Ex. xxxiv. 28, Deut. iv. 13, x. 4 the 
Hebrew has " ten words." The number " ten " was then 
and at all times, among the Israelites, the received sym- 
bol of completeness. Hence, from these being ten words, 
we may learn — 1. The perfection of this law, that no 
more was needed to be added. (Ps. xix. 7.) 2. The 
excellence of it, being so short and yet so perfect. 

BOW "SUMMARILY COMTHEB ENDED." 

The moral law is said to be " summarily " compre- 
hended in the ten commandments — 1. Because the 
sum and chief heads of the law are therein contained ; 
and 2. Because much more is included in every com- 
mand than is expressed. 

THE GIVING OF THE I AW. 

The ten commandments were first promulgated by- 
God himself. (Ex. xx. 1.) It was the triune God 
considered as in the person of the Son who was the 
speaker of them, as is evident from Acts vii. 37, 38, 



190 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

where the prophet whom the Lord was to raise up 
unto the Jews of their brethren, like unto Moses, is 
expressly called the angel which spake to him in 
Mount Sinai. (See also Heb. xii. 25, 26.) When God 
had spoken these commandments in the hearing of all 
Israel, he made or engraved them with his own finger 
on the tables of stone. They were written on stone to 
show the perpetual obligation of the law, and to rep- 
resent the natural hardness of our hearts in which the 
Spirit writes it. (Jer. xxxi. 33 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27.) 
Each of these tables was written on both sides. (Ex. 
xxxii. 15.) This signified that nothing was to be 
added to the words of the law or taken away from 
them (Deut. iv. 2), and likewise that the whole man, 
soul, spirit and body, must be sanctified wholly. (1 
Thess. v. 23.) The law was given upon a mount that 
burned with fire and with blackness and darkness and 
tempest. (Heb. xii. 18.) So terrible was the sight to 
Moses that he said, " I exceedingly fear and quake." 
(Heb. xii. 21.) It struck an awe upon the people, for 
they said, "All that the Lord hath said will we do 
and be obedient." (Ex. xxiv. 7.) And should not we 
be moved by the consideration of it ? " Knowing the 
terror of the Lord, we persuade men." (2 Cor. v. 11.) 

JtULVS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE COMMAND- 
MENTS. 

1. Every command requires many duties and forbids 
many sins which are not expressly named in it. 2. 
"Wherever a duty is required, the contrary sin is forbid- 
den; and wherever a sin is forbidden, the contrary duty 
is required. 3. Wherever a sin is forbidden, all sins 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 191 



of the same kind, and all occasions, causes or appear- 
ances of those sins, are forbidden ; and wherever any 
duty is commanded, all duties of the same kind, and 
all the means of performing them, are commanded. 4. 
Whatever we ourselves are bound to do, we are obliged 
to do what in us lieth to cause others to do the same. 
5. That which is forbidden may never be done, but 
actions required are only to be performed when God 
gives opportunity. 6. The same sin is forbidden and 
the same duty required in different respects in many 
commandments. 7. In a command partly moral and 
partly positive, as in that relating to the Sabbath, 
obligation to the duties of the second table often 
supersedes our obedience to that command of the first 
table. 8. The connection between the commands is so 
close and intimate that whosoever breaks one of them 
is guilty of all. (James ii. 10.) 9. The commands are 
spiritual, reaching to the thoughts and motions of the 
heart as well as to the words and actions of the life. 
Our Saviour w r as particular in inculcating this. He 
taught that causeless anger is a breach of the sixth 
commandment, and impure desire a violation of the 
seventh. 

An Antinomian one day called on Rowland Hill to bring him 
to an account for preaching what he regarded as a severe and 
legal gospel. "Do you, sir," asked Mr. Hill, "hold the ten 
commandments to be a rule of life to Christians ?" " Certainly 
not," replied the visitor. The minister rang the bell, and on 
the servant making his appearance, he quietly added, " John, 
show that man the door, and keep your eye on him until he is 
beyond the reach of every article of wearing apparel or other 
property in the hall." 



192 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

Question 42. — What is the sum of the ten command- 
ments t 

Answer. — The sum of the ten commandments is. to 
love the Lord our God, with all our heart, with all our 
soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind ; and 
our neighbor as ourselves. 

There is no duty required nor sin forbidden by God, 
but it falls under one at least of the ten command- 
ments, and sometimes under more than one ; and there- 
fore to the right and genuine interpretation of the law 
we must take in whatsoever the prophets, apostles or 
our Lord himself has taught as comments and exposi- 
tions upon it, for the Decalogue is a compendium of 
all they have taught concerning duty to God and duty 
to man. 

Our Saviour, indeed, epitomizes this very epitome 
itself, and reduces the ten precepts to two — love to God, 
which comprehends all the duties of the first table ; 
and love to our neighbor, which comprehends all the 
duties of the second table ; and he tells us that " upon 
these two hang all the law and the prophets." (Matt, 
xxii. 37-40.) And certainly a due love of God and 
our neighbor will make us careful to perform all the 
duties of religion to the one and of justice to the other, 
and keep us from attempting any violation to his honor 
or violence to their right ; therefore the apostle tells us 
that " love is the fulfilling of the law" (Rom. xiii. 10) ; 
and (1 Tim. i. 5) that " the end of the commandment 
is charity," or love ; the end — that is, the completion 
or the consummation — of the commandment is love, 
both to God and to one another. The sum of the ten 
commandments is, to love the Lord our God with a 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 193 



supreme love, and men with a sincere love in and for 
him. 

TiOVE TO GOD. 

It is not necessary to distinguish the exercises of 
love as they separately flow from each of those powers 
or principles of our nature which are designated by 
the words, heart, soul, mind and strength. These ex- 
pressions were chosen, as they are admirably adapted, 
to show that all our faculties, with all their energies, 
are to be exerted to the utmost in the love of God. 
To be more specific, supreme love to God is — 1. Lov- 
ing him purely and absolutely for himself, for the ex- 
cellences that are in him. (Canticles i. 3 ; Ps. cxvi. 
1.) 2. Devoting the whole man to God and Christ, 
so that in life and death that man designs the glory 
of God as his main end. (Rom. xiv. 7, 8.) 3. It 
causes the soul to depreciate and slight all other things 
in comparison with God's glory and an interest in 
Christ. (Acts xx. 24 ; Phil. iii. 8.) 4. It centres the 
soul in God as its only rest. (Ps. cxvi. 7 ; 2 Thess. iii. 
5.) We must love God with a supreme love, because 
such a love only suits the transcendent excellency of 
God, commands all we are and have for God, and is 
the only love that will continue to the end. (Rom. viii. 
35. See also 1 John iv. 8, 19 ; Prov. viii. 17 ; Rom. 
viii. 28 ; 1 Cor. ii. 9.) 

sigjts. 

The visible signs of love to God are — 1. Desire for 
communion with him. (Isa. xxvi. 8 ; Ps. xlii. 2 ; lxxiii. 
25.) 2. Taking contentment in nothing without him. 
(Ps. xliii. 5.) 3. Hating that which would separate 
between him and us, and that is sin. (Ps. cix. 128.) 

13 



194 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

4. Sympathy with him. (Ps. cix. 136.) 5. Laboring 
to render him lovely to others. (Cant. v. 11.) 6. 
Weeping bitterly for his absence. (John xx. 11.) 7. 
"Willingness to do and suffer for him. (1 Cor. xiii. 7 ; 
2 Tim. iv. 6; Rev. xii. 11.) What shall we do to 
love God aright? 1. Wait on the preaching of the 
word, in which God is exhibited in all his glory. 2. 
Beg of God that he will give us a heart to love him. 
3. If we have love to God, keep it flaming upon the 
altar of our heart. Through neglect of duty or too 
much love of the world, our love to God will cool. 
(Rev. ii. 4.) 

OTIIt NEIGHBOR. 

We are to understand by this, expression all man- 
kind to whom we have any way access to be useful 
either as to their temporal or spiritual good. (Luke 
x. 36, 37.) Lawful self-love is an aiming at our own 
happiness in subordination to the glory of God, which 
ought to be our chief and ultimate end. (1 Cor. x. 31.) 
We are to love our neighbors as ourselves — as truly as 
ourselves. (Rom. xii. 9.) We should do to them all 
the good we would from a well-informed judgment wish 
them to do to us in like circumstances. (Rom. xii. 9- 
21 ; Matt. vii. 12.) As fruitfully as ourselves. (1 Cor. 
x. 33.) As constantly as ourselves. (Heb. xiii. 1. See 
Rom. xii. 15 ; xv. 2, 3 ; Gal. vi. 2 ; James v. 16.) 
We should love all men in general with a love of 
benevolence, and likewise of beneficence, according 
to our ability (Gal. vi. 10), but we should love the 
saints with a love of complacency and delight. (Ps. 
xv. 4 ; xvi. 3.) We must love even our enemies, in 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 195 



forgiving, praying for and rendering them good for 
evil. (Matt. v. 44; Luke vi. 27, 28, etc.) 

A martyr was asked whether he did not love his wife and 
children, who stood weeping by hi m. "Love them? Yes," 
said he. " If all the world were gold and at my disposal, T 
would give it all for the satisfaction of living with them, 
though it were in a prison. Yet in comparison with Christ 
I love them not." 

The Kev. John Howe, one of the chaplains of Cromwell, 
was applied to by men of all parties for protection, nor did he 
refuse his influence to any on account of difference in religious 
opinions. One day the Protector said to him, " Mr. Howe, 
you have asked favors for every one besides yourself ; pray, 
when does your turn come?" He replied, " My turn, my 
Lord Protector, is always come when I can serve another." 

Question 43. — What is the preface to the ten com- 
mandments t 

Answer. — The preface to the ten commandments is 
in these words, I am the Lord thy God, which have 
brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house 
of bondage. 

Question 44. — What doth the preface to the ten 
commandments teach us f 

Answer. — The preface to the ten commandments 
teacheth us, thai because God is the Lord, and our God, 
and Redeemer, therefore we are bound to keep all his 
commandments. 

A " preface " is something spoken before, or a pre- 
paratory introduction to, the following discourse. This 
preface carries an equal respect and reverence to all the 
commandments. 



196 NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



A DESCRIPTION OF GOD. 

Here we have a description of God — 1. By his es- 
sential greatness — 1 am the Lord, or, as it is in the 
Hebrew, Jehovah. By this great name God sets forth 
his majesty. 2. By his relative goodness — thy God. 
Had God only called himself Jehovah, it might have 
terrified ns and made us flee from him, but when he 
says " thy God," this may allure and draw us to him. 
God becomes our God through our faith in Jesus 
Christ. Being " Immanuel, God with us," he restores 
friendship between God and us, and brings us within 
the verge of the covenant, and so becomes our God. 

THREE MEASOXS. 

There are, it will be observed, three reasons or argu- 
ments stated, to oblige and persuade us to keep all God's 
commandments : 1. Because God is the Lord. 2. Be- 
cause God is our God. 3. Because God is our Ke- 
deemer. As fear and love are the two passions by which 
we are swayed in all the actions of our lives, so God 
accommodates himself to our constitution, and pro- 
claims, first, his authority, to beget fear, and then his 
benefits and mercies, to engage love. And both these 
he proclaims that, having so strong an obligation on 
our very natures as the motives of love and fear, he 
might the more readily influence us to obedience. 

EGYPT— HOTTSE OF BONDAGE. 

" Egypt" and " the house of bondage " are the same, 
only they are expressed under different ideas. By 
Egypt is meant a place of affliction, such as the Israel- 
ites experienced under their cruel taskmasters. God 
mentions this deliverance out of Egypt because of its 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 197 



strangeness and its greatness. Egypt is a synonym for 
an ungodly world which captivates the heart of man, 
and from which the grace of God releases the renewed 
soul. 

CAUTION. 

It is not by any means to be inferred from the preface 
to the Decalogue that it was not given as a revelation 
of God's will to mankind at large, but was simply and 
exclusively intended for the Israelites, binding, indeed, 
on them so long as the peculiar policy lasted under 
which they were placed, but also ceasing as an obliga- 
tory rule of conduct when that was abolished. On this 
ground the gospel itself will be found scarcely less im- 
perfect, and we might almost at every step question the 
fitness or obligation of its precepts in respect to men in 
general ; for it carries throughout a reference to exist- 
ing circumstances, and by much the fullest development 
of its principles and duties, that contained in the Epis- 
tles, was given directly and avowedly to particular per- 
sons and churches, with the primary design of instruct- 
ing them in the will of God. (See Ex. i. 13 ; Ps. cxxxvi. 
ll"; Jer. vii. 22, 23; Heb. iv. 2; Rom. iii. 29.) 

GROUNDS OF OBLIGATION. 

We are bound to keep God's commandments — 1. Be- 
cause he is the Lord. He is our Creator and supreme 
Sovereign, and we owe to him all obedience, as we are 
his creatures and subjects. (Ps. c. 2, 3 ; Jer. x. 7.) 2. 
Because he is our God, and as such he has taken us 
into covenant and brought us into a special relation to 
himself, and thus laid a greater obligation upon us to 
do him service. (Deut. xi. 1.) 3. Because as our Re- 



198 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



deemer he lias redeemed us for this end, that, being free 
from the slavery of sin and Satan, we might be encour- 
aged and enabled to yield obedience to him. (1 Cor. vi. 
19, 20; Luke i. 74, 75 ; Isa. lxi. 1 ; Ps. cxxx. 8 ; John 
viii. 36 ; Tit. ii. 14 ; Isa. i. 18.) 

I JLM TUT GO ID. 

God makes the declaration of his grace in the pres- 
ent time, I am, and not in the future, I will be, thy God, 
in order to show that his covenant of promise is always 
a solid ground and foundation for the present actiugs 
of faith in every case and circumstance in which we 
can be situated. (James ii. 23.) He also addresses the 
sinner in the singular number, I am thy God, that 
every individual sinner to whom the revelation of his 
grace may come should believe it with a particular 
applicatory faith. (Zech. xiii. 9.) 

PJtACTICAJL LESSONS. 

1. How great is the condescension of God to man 
that he will use arguments to induce him to obedience, 
when he might exact it only by his sovereignty and 
justly condemn us for our disobedience ! (2 Cor. v. 20.) 
2. The more mercy any receive from God, the more 
obligations are laid on them to obey him. (Ps. cxvi. 
1, 2.) 3. The more mercies and favors any man sins 
against, the greater is that man's sin and the sorer will 
be his punishment. (Amos iii. 2.) 4. God's expecta- 
tions are greater where his mercies and favors have 
been so. (Isa. v. 4.) 5. The memorials of God's mer- 
cies are to be kept by us to stimulate us to constant 
and cheerful duties of obedience. (Ex. xvii. 14; Ps. 
ciii. 2, 3.) 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 199 



A friend, calling on the Kev. Ebenezer Erskine during his 
last illness, said to him, " Sir, you have given us many good 
advices. Pray, what are you now doing with your own soul ?" 
" I am doing with it," said he, " what I did forty years ago. I 
am resting on that word, I am the Lord thy God; and on this 
I mean to die." To another he said, "The covenant is my 
charter, and if it had not been for that blessed word, I am the 
Lord thy God, my hope and strength had perished from the 
Lord." The night on which he died, his eldest daughter was 
reading in the room where he was, to whom he said, " What 
book is that you are reading, my dear ?" " It is one of your 
sermons, sir." " What one is it ?" " It is the sermon on that 
text, J am the Lord thy God." "Oh, woman," said he, "that is 
the best sermon I ever preached." And it was most probably 
the best to his soul. A little afterward with his finger and 
thumb he shut his own eyes, and laying his hand below his 
cheek, breathed out his soul into the hands of his living Re- 
deemer. Happy the man that is in such a state ! Happy the 
man whose God is the Lord ! 

Children should be early taught that the Bible is the great 
authority, and that when it speaks upon any point the question 
is settled for ever. They should be taught to go directly to the 
Scripture to find what is good and what is bad, what is true and 
what is false. Thus, with the blessing of God, they will acquire 
the habit of constantly subordinating their own notions and in- 
clinations to the plain declarations of Scripture. It is a good 
sign to have a child often use the expression, u The Bible says so." 

Question 45. — Which is the first commandment f 
Answer. — The first commandment is, Thou shall 
have no other gods before me. 

Question 46. — What is required in the first com- 
mandment t 

Answer. — The first commandment requireth us to 
know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and 
our God ; and to worship and glorify him accordingly. 



200 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



Question 47. — What is forbidden in the first com- 
mandment f 

Answer. — The first commandment forbiddeth the de- 
nying, or not worshiping and glorifying, the true God 
as God, and our God, and the giving of that worship 
and glory to any other which is due to him alone. 

Question 48. — What are we especially taught by these 
words, " before me," in the first commandment f 

Answer. — These ivords, " before me," in the first com- 
mandment, teach us, that God, who seeth all things, 
taketh notice of, and is much displeased with, the sin 
of having any other god. 

The first table of the Decalogue, which embraces the 
first four commandments, enjoins the duties which we 
owe to God ; the second table, the duties which we owe 
to our neighbor ; yet in such a way that the former are 
referred immediately, the latter mediately, to God. 

This commandment may well lead the van, and be 
set in front of all the commandments, because it is the 
foundation of all true religion. Thou. The command- 
ment runs in the second person singular, because it 
concerns every one, and God would have us take it as 
spoken to us by name. It is important that we should 
feel ourselves individually addressed, because, though 
forward to take privileges to ourselves, yet we are apt 
to shift off duty from ourselves to others. Another 
god is any and every thing to which we may attribute 
the properties, attributes and works of the true God, 
even though the thing itself does not possess them, and 
even though they are inconsistent with its nature. 
Before me, or in my sight, as if he would say, Thou 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 201 

shalt have no other gods, not only in the words and 
actions in the light of men, but thou shalt have none 
besides me in the secret chamber of thy heart, for noth- 
ing is concealed from my view ; I am the searcher of 
hearts and the trier of the reins of the children of men, 
and all things are naked and open to my view. (See 
Ps. 1.7; lxxxi. 8, 9 ; Deut. xiii. 7 ; Jer. xliv. 3, 4.) 
Inferences ; 1. It is a special mercy to be born in a 
land where the true God is known and worshiped. 
(Ps. cxlvii. 20.) 2. It is a great and dreadful sin to 
live without the worship of God in the world. (Eph. 

ii. 12.) 3. Christians must not comply with idolatrous 
and superstitious worship when they are cast into 
idolatrous places, however great the danger may be. 
(Ps. xvi. 4.) 4. The supreme love, fear and trust of 
the soul are God's peculiar right and due. (1 John ii. 
15 ; Job xxxi. 24-28.) 5. God's eye discovers the 
closest idolatry in the world, whether it be in secret 
devotions (Ezek. viii. 12) or inward affections. (Col. 

iii. 5.) 6. A high and full condition in the world is a 
dangerous condition, and lies most exposed to the dan- 
ger of heart-idolatry. (Prov. xxx. 9 ; Mark x. 24.) 
7. In covenanting with God and avouching him for 
our God, we must wholly renounce all others, and take 
God alone for our portion and the object of our love 
and dependence. 

WHAT IS REQUIRED. 

Three duties are required in the first commandment : 
L To know God. (1 Chron. xxviii. 9.) We must 
know (1) that God is, or that there is a God. (2.) 
What God is in all those glorious attributes and per- 



202 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



fections whereby he has made himself known. II. 
To acknowledge God. (Deut. xxvi. 17.) (1.) We ought 
to acknowledge him to be the only true God. (1 Cor. 
viii. 6.) (2.) We ought to take and own God for 
our God. (Ps. xlviii. 14.) III. To worship and glo- 
rify God. (Matt. iv. 10.) We ought to worship and 
glorify God as the only right object of divine worship 
and honor. (1.) In our minds, by thinking, meditating, 
remembering and highly esteeming him. (Mai. iii. 16 ; 
Ps. lxiii. 6 ; Ixxi. 19.) (2.) In our wills, by choosing 
him for our chief good and devoting ourselves to his 
service. (Josh. xxiv. 23.) (3.) In our hearts, by lov- 
ing, desiring, fearing, believing and trusting in him, 
grieving for our sins against him, hoping in him, de- 
lighting and rejoicing in him. (Deut. x. 12 ; Isa. xxvi. 
49 ; Ex. xiv. 31 ; Ps. xxxviii. 18 ; cxxx. 7 ; xxxvii. 4.) 
(4.) In our lips, by calling upon him and speaking 
well of his name. (Phil. iv. 6 ; Ps. cxlv. 21.) (5.) In 
our lives, by yielding all obedience to him, being zeal- 
ous for his glory, careful to please him, fearful of of- 
fending him, and by walking humbly before him. 
( Jer. vii. 23 ; John ii. 17 ; Col. i. 10 ; Gen. xxxix. 9 ; 
Micah vi. 8.) 

WHAT IS FORBIDDEN. 

The sins more generally forbidden in the first com- 
mandment are atheism, profaneness and the worship 
of false gods. 

It is a sin to deny the being of God. (Ps. xiv. 1), 
or his omniscience (Ps. xciv. 7), or his justice (Ps x. 
13), or his holiness (Ps. 1. 21), or his goodness (Matt, 
xxv. 24), or his faithfulness (2 Pet. iii. 4), or his prov- 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 203 



idence (Ex. xvii. 7), or his power (Ps. lxxviii. 19) ; and 
it is a great sin to admit the existence of God and yet 
be practically atheistical. (Tit. i. 16.) The profane- 
ness forbidden is our not worshiping and glorifying 
God as God, and our God in Christ. (Mai. i. 6.) The 
worship of false gods forbidden is — I. Gross or open 
— the external worshiping of sun, moon, stars, angels, 
men, demons or any other creature instead of God. (2 
Kings ii. 7 ; Rom. i. 24, 25 ; 1 Cor. i. 21.) II. Secret 
or spiritual idolatry. We may make imaginary be- 
ings a god when we boast of false gifts, ascribe events 
to what men call fortune, luck or chance. We may 
make a god of ourselves, our wisdom, will, righteousness, 
strength, beauty, appetites, riches, reputation, etc. (Isa. 
xiv. 13, 14; Rom. x. 3 ; Isa. x. 13, 14; 1 Pet. iii. 3, 
4; 1 Tim. ii. 9, 10; Phil. iii. 19 ; Col. iii. 5.) It is a 
sin to love anything more than God. (Ezek. xlv. 4; 
Isa. xlii. 8 ; Matt. x. 37 ; Jer. xvii. 5 ; Hos. ii. 13.) 

Lord Rochester was one day at an atheistical meeting in the 
house of a person of quality. He undertook to manage the 
cause, and was the principal disputant against God and relig- 
ion, and for his performance received the applause of the whole 
company. "Upon which," says he, "my mind was terribly 
struck, and I immediately replied thus to myself: Good God ! 
that a man that walks upright, that sees the wonderful works of 
God and has the use of his senses and reason, should use them 
to the denying of his Creator !" 

Rev. Dr. Witherspoon was once on board a packet-ship 
where, among other passengers, was a professed atheist. This 
unhappy man was very fond of troubling every one with his 
peculiar belief, and of broaching the subject as often as he 
could get any one to listen to him. He did not believe in a 
God and a future state — not he ! By and by there came on a 
terrible storm, and the prospect was that all would be drown- 



204 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



ed. There was much consternation on board, but no one was as 
greatly frightened as the professed atbeist. In his extremity 
he sought out the clergyman, and found him in the cabin 
calm and collected in the midst of danger, and thus addressed 
him: "Oh, Dr. Witherspoon ! Dr. Witherspoon ! we're all 
going; we have but a short time to stay. Oh how the vessel 
rocks ! We're all going ; don't you think we are, doctor ?" The 
doctor turned to him with a solemn look and replied in broad 
Scotch, "Nae doubt, nae doubt, man; we're a' ganging, but 
you and 1 dinna gang the same voayT The poor man was speech- 
less ; and the worthy doctor, who had not said much before, 
then took the opportunity of setting before him the guilt and 
folly of his conduct. 

Question 49. — Which is the second commandment t 
Answer. — The second commandment is, Thou shall 
not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of 
any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth 
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth : thou 
shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for 
I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the in- 
iquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third 
and fourth generation of them that hate me : and show- 
ing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep 
my commandments. 

Question 50. — What is required in the second com- 
mandment f 

Answer. — The second commandment requireth the 
receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all 
such religious worship and ordinances as God hath ap- 
pointed in his word. 

Question 51. — What is forbidden in the second com- 
mandment f 

Answer. — The second commandment forbiddeth the 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 205 



worshiping of God by images, or any other way not ap- 
pointed in his word. 

Question 52. — What are the reasons annexed to the 
second commandment f 

Answer. — The reasons annexed to the second com- 
mandment are, God's sovereignty over us, his propriety 
in us, and the zeal he hath to his own worship. 

In this commandment we have two points — the 'pre- 
cept itself, and the sanction of the precept — each of 
which is twofold. 

The precept runs negatively in the several prohibi- 
tions, both tending to the same end and effect — the one 
forbidding images to be made, the other forbidding 
them to be worshiped. The sanction contains a severe 
threatening against those that shall presume to violate 
this command, and also, for the encouragement of obe- 
dience, a gracious promise. 

The difference between the first and the second com- 
mandment ought to be distinctly noted. The first re- 
lates to the object of worship, and the second to the 
mode or manner of that worship ; the first forbids the 
worship of any other than the true God ; the second 
forbids the worshiping even of the true God by the 
use of images or any other visible symbols ; the first 
impliedly requires all right worship of J ehovah ; the 
second prohibits all that is even circumstantially wrong 
in his worship. 

WH AT IS FOR BIDDEN. 

Thou shalt not make. The prohibition is general. 
Thou shalt not imagine or invent, or imitate the 
inventions of others. Thou shalt not make, or cause 



206 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



to make. In a word, thou shalt not be in any way ac- 
cessory to the corrupting of divine worship with any 
resemblance (or image) or human device at all. The 
former is a particular word, signifying the then most 
particular kind of imagery, but the other is a word of 
most large and general sense,' and is put for all kinds 
of similitude and representation. 

Anything that is in heaven above, etc. Neither the 
sun, moon or stars in the heavens, nor men on earth, 
nor beasts, creeping things and fishes in the water, all 
of which were common objects of idolatry. Of course 
the commandment forbids not the making of an image 
for civil use (Matt. xxii. 20), but it does forbid the 
setting up an image for religious use or worship. God 
is to be adored in the heart, not painted to the eye. 

Thou shalt not boiv down, etc. " The advocates of 
image-worship," says Dr. Dick, " endeavor to evade 
the precept by subtle distinctions. They tell us that 
there are two kinds of adoration, the one absolute and 
the other relative, and that the image is the object only 
of relative worship ; that is, the worship does not ter- 
minate upon the image itself, but passes from it to the 
original. Again, they tell us that in an image two 
things are to be considered — the matter of which it is 
composed, gold, silver, wood or stone, and its repre- 
sentative character. Considered as a material sub- 
stance, it ought not to be adored, but as an image or 
representation it is entitled to respect. These, how- 
ever, were the identical distinctions by which the hea- 
thens attempted to vindicate themselves when they were 
accused of idolatry by the Christians. As papists find 
it necessary to defend themselves with the arguments 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 207 



of the heathens, it is plain that they are guilty of the 
same crime and involved in the same condemnation. 
All their subtilties vanish before the plain words of 
the precept, ' Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, 
nor serve them.' " (See Rom. i. 25 ; Hab. ii. 18 ; Acts 
xvii. 29 ; Isa. xl. 18 ; Rev. xix. 10 ; xxii. 9.) 

WHAT IS REQUIRED. 

It is right that God should appoint the means of his 
own worship, because he only knows sufficiently what 
means of worship best suit his own honor and our ad- 
vantage, and he only can authorize and make means 
effectual. (Dent. xii. 32 ; v. 32 ; James iv. 12.) The 
instituted means of worshiping God are his ordi- 
nances which he has appointed in his word. (Ps. 
cxlvii. 19, 20 ; Prov. viii. 34.) They are called ordi- 
nances, because they are established by the supreme au- 
thority and will of God. (Deut. vi. 1.) They are prin- 
cipally meditation, self-examination, prayer, reading, 
preaching and hearing God's word, administering and 
receiving the sacraments, singing of psalms and hymns 
and spiritual songs, religious fasting, thanksgiving, in- 
struction of families, religious conference, vows, and 
church government and discipline. (Ps. cv. 2 ; 2 Cor. 
xiii. 5, etc.) The worship and ordinances which God 
has appointed in his word are to be received ; that is, 
we are to take them simply on the divine authority, 
without caviling or objecting to any of them. They are 
to be observed ; that is, practically treated as of God's 
appointment. They are to be kept pure ; that is, free 
from all human corruptions. And they are to be kept 
entire ; that is, nothing is to be added to them or sub- 



208 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



tracted from them, and there is to be an entireness in 
observing them both on the part of churches and in- 
dividuals. (Matt. xv. 9 ; Ps. cvi. 39 ; Lev. x. 1 ; Mai. 
i. 13, 14; Rom. i. 21.) 

ME AS ONS ANNEXED. 

1. For I the Lord. The peculiar feeling with which 
Jehovah regards all rivalry in the affections and 
homage of his subjects is here called "jealousy," 
implying a peculiar sensitiveness to everything that 
threatens to trench upon the houor, reverence and 
esteem that he knows to be due to himself. " Some," 
says an eminent theologian, " consider the visiting the 
iniquity of the fathers upon the children as peculiar to 
the Jews, who were placed under a dispensation of tem- 
poral rewards and punishments, and understand it to 
import that under such a dispensation, by the overrul- 
ing providence of God, a man's family would be placed 
in such circumstances as would accord with his conduct, 
or that their degradation and suffering would be the ef- 
fect of his sins." " A nobleman," says Dr. Gumming, 
" rebels against his prince ; he loses his coronet, and 
his family suffers for centuries afterward. A father, 
through gambling, loses all his property, and his chil- 
dren and his children's children suffer. A parent be- 
comes a drunkard and a debauchee, wastes his health 
and injures his constitution, and his offspring are dis- 
eased to the third and fourth generation. Now, what 
is all this but the sins of the fathers visited upon the 
children in the arrangements of a Providence we can 
see, and in occurrences of daily life?" 

2. And showing mercy. Mercy is the darling attri- 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 209 



bute of God, for if the judgments reach to the third or 
fourth, the mercy descends to thousands of genera- 
tions, and we must wait all the widening and coming 
enlargements of the blessedness in reserve for the hu- 
man family, ere we can compare aright the goodness 
with the severity of God. (See Ezek. xviii. 14, 17, 25.) 

Mr. Scott, the venerable expositor of the Bible, speaking of 
his early years, says : "A hymn of Dr. Watts, entitled ' The 
All-seeing God,' at this time fell in my way. I was much affect- 
ed by it, and having committed it to memory, was frequently re- 
peating it, and was thus continually led to reflect on my guilt 
and danger. Parents/' he adds, "may from this inconsider- 
able circumstance be reminded that it is of great importance to 
store their children's memories with useful matter, instead of 
suffering them to be furnished with such corrupting trash as is 
commonly taught them. They know not what use God may 
make of these early rudiments of instruction in future life." 

A lady who once heard Mr. Romaine, expressed herself 
greatly pleased with his discourse, and told him afterward that 
she thought she could comply with his doctrine and give up 
everything but one. "And what is that, madam?" "Cards, 
sir." "You think you could not be happy without them?" 
" No, sir ; I know I could not." " Then, madam, they are your 
god, and they must save you." This pointed and just reply is 
said to have issued in her conversion. 

Question 53. — Which is the third commandment? 

Answer. — The third commandment is, Thou shalt 
not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain : for the 
Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in 
vain. 

Question 54. — What is required in the third com- 
mandment f 

Answer. — The third commandment requireth the holy 

14 



210 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



and reverent use of God's names, titles, attributes, ordi- 
nances, word, and works. 

Question 55. — What is forbidden in the third com- 
mandment f 

Answer. — The third commandment forbiddeth all 
profaning or abusing of anything tvhereby God maketh 
himself known. 

Question 56. — What is the reason annexed to the 
third commandment f 

Answer. — The reason annexed to the third command- 
ment is, that however the breakers of this commandment 
may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God 
will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment. 

This commandment has three parts : 1. A negative 
expressed. 2. An affirmative implied. 3. A threat- 
ening denounced. 

THE NAME OF GOD. 

This expression signifies in the Scriptures — 1. Tlie 
attributes of God. (Gen. xxxiL 29 ; Ex. iii. 15 ; xv. 

3. ) 2. God himself. (Ps. v. 11 ; cxvi. 13 ; vii. 17 ; 
Deut. xvi. 2 ; 1 Kings v. 5.) 3. The will or com- 
mandment of God. (Deut. xviii. 19 ; 1 Sam. xvii. 45.) 

4. The worship of God — confidence, prayer, praising 
and professing God. (Mic. iv. 5; Acts xxi. 13.) In 
a word, by God's "name" is meant anything by which 
God may be known, as a man is known by his name. 

WHAT IS FORBIDDEN. 

The taking of God's name in vain. We do this— 
1. When we speak lightly and irreverently of it. 
(Deut. xxviii. 58.) 2. When we profess his name, 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 211 

but do not live answerably to it. (Tit. i. 16.) 3. 
When we use it in idle discourse, as when, in ordi- 
nary conversation and without a holy awe upon our 
hearts, we introduce such expressions as " O God !" 
" Christ !" or as " God shall save my soul !" etc. 
4. When we worship God with our lips, but not our 
hearts. (Prov. xxiii. 26 ; Isa. xxix. 13.) 5. When we 
pray to him, but do not believe in him. (Kom. iv. 20 ; 
1 John v. 10.) 6. When we in any wise profane or 
abuse his word ; for instance, in speaking scornfully 
of it (2 Pet. iii. 4), in speaking jestingly of it (Prov. 
i. 26), and in forcing the interpretation of it, as, for 
example, the covetous man does when, being told 
that covetousness is idolatry, he attempts to support 
his covetousness by such passages as these : " Six days 
shalt thou labor," and " He who provides not for his 
family is worse than an infidel." 7. When we swear 
by his name. Many seldom mention God's name but 
in profane oaths ; for this sin the land mourns. 8. 
When any wicked action is baptized with the name 
of religion. 9. By rash and unlawful vows. (Ps. lxvi. 
13 ; Judg. xi. 31, 34.) 10. When we speak evil of 
God by murmuring at his providences, as if he had 
dealt hardly with us. (Ps. lxxvii. 19 ; Gen. xviii. 25 ; 
Num. xiv. 27.) 11. When we falsify our promise, 
saying, " If God spare our life we will do this," and 
never intend it. 12. When we take a false oath. 

WHAT IS MJEQUIRJEI). 

That we should have a care to reverence and honor 
the name of God. We reverence or hallow God's name 
when we profess it. It is an honor done to him when 



212 NOTES ON THE SHOETER CATECHISM. 

we meet in his holy assembly. But this is not enough. 
(Matt. vii. 23.) We must go further. Therefore we 
sanctify God's name when we have a high appreciation 
and esteem of him ; set him highest in our thoughts — 
when we trust in his name (Ps. xxxiii. 21 ; Rom. iv. 20 ; 
1 John v. 20) ; when we never mention it but with the 
highest reverence (Gen. xiv. 20 ; Neh. ix. 5) ; when we 
love it (Ps. v. 11) ; when we render him spiritual and 
holy worship (Lev. x. 3 ; Rom. xii. 11) ; when we sanc- 
tify his day (Jer. xvii. 22 ; Rev. i. 10) ; when we ascribe 
the honor of all we do to him (Ps. xcvi. 8 ; 1 Cor. xv. 
10) ; when we obey him (Ps. xl. 8 ; Matt. ii. 11 ; Gen. 
xx. 16, 17) ; when we exalt God's name in our praises 
(Ps. lxxi. 8 ; Rev. v. 13) ; when we sympathize with him, 
being grieved when his name suffers (Neh. ii. 2 ; Isa. 
xxxvii. 17 ; 2 Kings xix. 14) ; when we honor the Son 
as we honor the Father (John v. 23 ; Ps. viii. 5 ; Heb. 

1. 3 ; Col. ii. 9) ; when we stand up for his truth ; when 
we seek by counsel, prayer, example and effort the sal- 
vation of others (Josh. xxiv. 15 ; Col. iv. 12) ; when we 
prefer the honor of God's name before the dearest things 
(Ps. lxix. 7 ; Heb. xi. 26 ; Acts v. 41) ; and when we 
are characterized by a holy walk and conversation. (1 
Pet. ii. 9.) 

THE ME AS ON ANNEXED. 

Why is it that those who profane God's name " es- 
cape punishment from men " ? 1. Because no laws of 
men do or can reach all profanations of God's name. 

2. Because such laws as reach blasphemy, perjury, 
swearing and the like grosser profanations of God's 
name are not executed by many in authority, who 
oftentimes, being profane and wicked persons them- 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 213 



selves, are more ready to punish those that hallow 
God's name than those that profane it. What is the 
import of the threatening, "the Lord will not hold 
him guiltless " ? It is a form of expression by which 
less is said than is intended. It imports that God 
will hold him guilty in a peculiar manner, who pre- 
sumes to profane or abuse his name, so that divine 
vengeance shall be infallibly certain against him. 
(Zech. v. 3.) In what light does the Scripture rep- 
resent those who take God's name in vain ? As his 
open and avowed enemies. (Ps. cxxxix. 20.) How 
does it appear that divine vengeance is infallibly cer- 
tain against the profaners of God's name ? It appears 
from the terms of the threatening. The Lord will not 
hold him guiltless ; that is, so sure it is that this sin 
shall then be taken particular notice of as a main ar- 
ticle in the list of sins which are to be accounted for. 
(Mai. iii. 5; Deut. xxviii. 59; Matt, xxiii. 13; Isa. 
xxviii. 13 ; Ezek. xvii. 18 ; Zech. v. 3 ; Ps. lxiv. 8.) 

"Once, when I was returning from Ireland," says Rowland 
Hill, " I found myself much annoyed by the reprobate conduct 
of the captain and mate, who were sadly given to the scanda- 
lous habit of swearing. First, the captain swore at the mate, 
then the mate swore at the captain, then they both swore at the 
winds, when I called to them with a strong voice for fair play. 
' Stop ! stop !' said I. 'If you please, gentlemen, let us have fair 
play. It's my turn now.' ' At what is it your turn, pray ?' 
said the captain. 'At swearing,' I replied. Well, they waited 
and waited until their patience was exhausted, and then wanted 
me to make haste and take my turn. I told them, however, that 
I had a right to take my own time and swear at my own conve- 
nience. To this the captain replied with a laugh, ' Perhaps you 
don't mean to take your turn?' 'Pardon me, captain,' I an- 



214 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



swered, 'but I do as soon as. I can find the good of doing so.' 
My friends, I did not hear another oath on the voyage." 

Within the first month after the Declaration of Independence 
Washington gave a noble testimony against profaneness by de- 
claring in his public orders that " he hopes the officers will, by 
example as well as influence, endeavor to check it, and that both 
they and the men will reflect that we can have little hope of the 
blessing of Heaven on our arms, if we insult it by our impiety 
and folly. Added to this, it is a vice so mean and low, without 
any temptation, that every man of sense and character despises 
it." 

Question 57. — Which is the fourth commandment? 

Answer. — The fourth commandment is, Remember 
the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou 
labor, and do all thy work : but the seventh day is the 
Sabbath of the Lord thy God : in it thou shalt not do 
any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man- 
servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy 
stranger that is within thy gates : for in six days the 
Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in 
them is, and rested the seventh day : wherefore the Lord 
blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. 

Question 58. — What is required in the fourth com- 
mandment t 

Answer. — The fourth commandment requireth the 
keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed 
in his word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a 
holy Sabbath to himself. 

Question 59. — Which day of the seven hath God 
appointed to be the weekly Sabbath? 

Answer. — From the beginning of the world to the 
resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 215 



of the week to be the weekly Sabbath ; and the first day 
of ilie week, ever since, to continue to the end of the 
world, which is the Christian Sabbath. 

Question 60. — How is the Sabbath to be sancti- 
fied? 

Answer. — The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy 
resting all that day, even from such worldly employments 
and recreations as are lawful on other days ; and spend- 
ing the whole time in ilie public and private exercises of 
God's worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the 
works of necessity and mercy. 

Question 61. — What is forbidden in the fourth 
commandment f 

Answer. — The fourth commandment forbiddeth the 
omission or careless performance of the duties required, 
and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that 
which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, 
words, or works, about our worldly employments or recre- 
ations. 

Question 62. — What are the reasons annexed to the 
fourth commandment t 

Answer. — The reasons annexed to the fourth com- 
mandment are, God's allowing us six days of the week 
for our own employments, his challenging a special pro- 
priety in the seventh, his own example, and his blessing 
the Sabbath day. 

REMEMBER. 

The origin of the Sabbath is stated in Genesis 
ii. 1-3. It did not take its rise, like other sacred 
days and seasons, with the Jewish system of worship 



216 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



which was to pass away, nor was it instituted for any 
ceremonial reason, such as existed in the case of sacri- 
fices and of the priestly office. 

FEMFETUITY OF THE SABBATH. 

In proof of this let it be observed — 1. This precept 
is united with other commands of the moral law, which 
are acknoAvledged to be binding on men of every age 
and every country. 2. It was spoken, together with 
the other nine, with an awful and audible voice from 
the midst of the thunders and lightnings which envel- 
oped Mount Sinai. 3. It was written by the finger of 
God on one of the two tables of stone originally pre- 
pared by himself, and destined to contain nothing but 
this and the other precepts of the Decalogue. 4. This 
command is delivered in the same absolute manner as 
the other nine. There is no limitation in the phrase- 
ology in which it is embodied. For what ends was the 
Sabbath instituted? To give the laborious classes of 
mankind an opportunity of resting from toil ; to be a 
commemoration of the wisdom, power and goodness of 
God in the creation of the universe ; to furnish an op- 
portunity of increasing holiness in man while in a state 
of innocence ; to furnish an opportunity to fallen man 
of acquiring holiness and of obtaining salvation. In 
every one of these respects the Sabbath is as useful, 
important and necessary to every child of Adam as it 
was to the Jews. 

CHANGE OF THE DAY. 

Although w r e cannot produce any positive precept 
for the change of the day from the seventh to the first, 
yet we have the example of the apostles and of the 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 217 



primitive Church, who were under the guidance of the 
Spirit in all things relative to doctrine and worship. 

Immediately after the resurrection of Christ the dis- 
ciples began to assemble on the first day of the week, 
and by meeting repeatedly with them on that day he 
gave countenance to the practice. It was continued 
after his ascension and after the mission of the Holy 
Ghost, whose office it was to lead them into all the 
truth. Thus at Troas, when the disciples came to- 
gether on the first day of the week, Paul preached to 
them (Acts xx. 7), and the time of meeting is mani- 
festly mentioned as the usual one. On that day the 
Corinthians were commanded to lay by them in store 
as the Lord had prospered them (1 Cor. xvi. 2) ; and it 
is reasonable to think that the first day was specified 
as the proper time to make collections for the poor be- 
cause it was consecrated to religious duties. It is un- 
doubtedly the same day to which the beloved disciple 
refers when he says, " I was in the Spirit on the Lord's 
day" (Rev. i. 10) — the day which Jesus Christ pecu- 
liarly claimed as his own, or the first day of the 
week, which is consecrated to his honor. 

If the finishing of the works of creation was a rea- 
son why the Lord blessed the seventh day and hal- 
lowed it, there is a reason at least equally strong for 
the consecration of the first day, on which our Saviour 
rose from the grave. 

OBSERVANCE OF THE DAT. 

This precept requires us to set apart for rest, refresh- 
ment and the service of God one day of every seven. 
It requires us to abstain from our worldly employ- 



218 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

merits, manual and mental, from the labors of the body 
and the labors of the mind about secular studies, and 
from all unnecessary words and thoughts respecting 
such subjects. It requires us to spend the time in de- 
votional exercises, in prayer, religious reading and medi- 
tation, in the instruction of our families and pious con- 
versation with them and our friends, and in attendance 
upon the public ordinances of grace. It requires us to 
abstain from secular recreations and amusements, be- 
cause we can very well dispense with them for one day, 
since we are at liberty to use them on the other six ; 
they would engross a portion of the time which is sa- 
cred to other purposes, and would dissipate our thoughts 
and indispose us for the proper duties of the Sabbath. 

Tliou, nor thy son, etc. The family of the house 
and all belonging to it. By the gates are meant the 
doors of the private house, and also, as the command- 
ment applies to rulers, the entrances to the city or 
village. (Deut. xiv. 21.) The general character of 
the prohibition is illustrated in detail, as, for exam- 
ple, Neh. xiii. 15 ; Jer. xvii. 21 ; Amos viii. 5 ; Num. 
xv. 32. . 

HEAS02T AJTWEXJEl). 

For in six days, etc. The reason is historical. It 
refers to the original division of time into six days of 
work, and a seventh day of rest, on the occasion of the 
creation of man. Then God not only rested after the 
six days of creation, but blessed the Sabbath day and 
hallowed it. He thus instituted a seventh-day Sabbath 
of perpetual obligation, and therefore now enforces its 
constant remembrance and observance. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER, CATECHISM. 219 



MESUZT OF EXPERIENCE. 

A committee was appointed in the legislature of Pennsylva- 
nia, who made a report with regard to the employment of la- 
borers on the canals. In that report they say, in reference to 
those who had petitioned against the employment of the work- 
men on the Sabbath : " They assert, as the result of their expe- 
rience, that both man and beast can do more work by resting 
one day in seven than by working on the whole seven." They 
then said, " Your committee feel free to confess that their own 
experience as business-men, farmers or legislators corresponds 
with the assertion." 

Mr. Philip Henry used to call the Lord's day the queen of 
days, the pearl of the week, and observed it accordingly. His 
common salutation of his family or friends on the Lord's day 
in the morning was that of the primitive Christians : " The Lord 
is risen ! he is risen indeed !" making it his chief business on 
that day to celebrate the memory of Christ's resurrection ; and 
he would say sometimes, " Every Lord's day is a true Chris- 
tian's Easter day." 

Question 63. — Which is the fifth commandment f 
Answer. — The fifth commandment is, Honor thy 
father and thy mother ; that thy days may be long upon 
the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 

Question 64. — What is required in the fifth com- 
mandment f 

Answer. — The fifth commandment requireth the pre- 
serving the honor, and performing the duties, belonging 
to everyone in their several places and relations, as su- 
periors, inferiors, or equals. 

Question 65. — What is forbidden in the fifth com- 
mandment f 

Answer. — The fifth commandment forbiddeth the ne- 
glecting of, or doing anything against, the honor and 



220 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



duty which belongeth to every one in their several places 
and relations. 

Question 66. — What is the reason annexed to the 
fifth commandment f 

Answer. — The reason annexed to the fifth command- 
ment is, a promise of long life and prosperity (as far as 
it shall serve for God's glory and their own good) to all 
such as keep this commandment. 

[The laws of the second table of the Decalogue 
commence with this commandment.] 

By the terms " father " and " mother " are meant 
" not only natural parents, but all superiors in age and 
gifts, and especially such as, by God's ordinance, are 
over us in places of authority, whether in family, 
church, or commonwealth." (Larger Catechism, Q. 
124.) Superiors are styled father and mother, " to 
teach them in all duties toward their inferiors, like 
natural parents, to express love and tenderness to 
them according to their several relations, and to work 
inferiors to a greater willingness and cheerfulness in 
performing their duties to their superiors, as to their 
parents." (Ib., Q. 125.) 

WHAT IS REQUIRED. 

The honor to be preserved and the mutual or cor- 
relative duties to be performed by superiors and in- 
feriors, refer to the places and relations of rulers and 
ruled, husbands and wives, parents and children, mas- 
ters and servants, ministers and people, old and young, 
and the possessors of superior and inferior gifts and 
graces. In all these relations there is a subordination 
of rank or character which is clearly recognized in 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 221 

the Scriptures. It is the duty of children (1) to rev- 
erence their parents. (Lev. xix. 3 ; Mai. i. 6 ; Prov. 
xxiii. 22 ; 1 Kings ii. 19 ; Prov. xxxi. 28.) (2.) To 
obey their parents. (Eph. vi. 1 ; Prov. i. 8 ; Heb. xii. 
9 ; Prov. xxiii. 15 ; 1 Tim. v. 4 ; Gen. xxviii. 7 ; Luke 
xv. 2.) (3.) To be respectful to the aged. (Lev. xix. 
32 ; 1 Pet. v. 5.) It is the duty of parents (1) to be 
tender of their children. (Isa. xlix. 15 ; Ps. ciii. 13 ; 
Mai. iii. 17 ; Prov. xiii. 24.) (2.) To pray for their 
children. (Job i. 5 ; Gen. xxxiii. 5.) (3.) To bring 
up their children in the fear of God. (Eph. vi. 4; 
Deut. vi. 7 ; Gen. xviii. 19 ; Ps. ci. 2 ; Gen. xxii. 16.) 
It is the duty of servants to honor their masters and 
mistresses. (1 Tim. vi. 1 ; Eph. vi. 5 ; Titus ii. 10 ; Col. 
iii. 22.) It is the duty of masters to be just to 
their servants. (Col. iv. 1 ; Eph. vi. 9.) It is the 
duty of wives to be respectful to their husbands. (Eph. 
v. 33 ; Titus ii. 4 ; Col. iii. 18.) It is the duty of hus- 
bands to love their wives. (Col. iii. 19 ; Eph. v. 33 ; 1 
Pet. iii. 7.) It is the duty of husbands and wives to be 
pleasing to one another. (1 Cor. vii. 33, 34; 1 Pet. iii. 
7 ; 1 Cor. vii. 16.) It is the duty of the ruled to rev- 
erence their rulers. (1 Pet. ii. 17 ; Tit. iii. 1 ; Rom. xiii. 
1 ; 1 Tim. ii. 2.) It is the duty of people to love and 
respect their ministers. (1 Thess. v. 12, 13 ; Heb. xiii. 
7 ; Gal. vi 6.) It is the duty of equals to be kind one 
to another. (Rom. xii. 10 ; 1 Pet. v. 5.) 

WHAT IS J?OjRjB TDD JEN. 

To neglect the honor and duty which belong to 
every one in their several places and relations, is not 
only to omit the performance of such relative duties 



222 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



altogether, but even when they are performed to do 
them without any regard to the command and author- 
ity of God enjoining them. (Isa. xxix. 13.) To do 
anything against the honor and duty which belong to 
every one, is to commit those sins which are the very 
opposite of the relative duties incumbent on us. (Rom. 
ii. 22.) What are the sins of inferiors against superi- 
ors? " Envying at, contempt of, and rebellion against 
their persons and places in their lawful counsels, com- 
mands and corrections." (Larger Catechism, Ques. 
128.) What are the sins of superiors ? " Command- 
ing things unlawful, or not in the power of inferiors to 
perform, counseling, encouraging or favoring them in 
that which is evil," and " dissuading, discouraging or 
discountenancing them in that which is good." (Ib. 
130.) What are the sins of equals ? "Envying the 
gifts, grieving at the advancement or prosperity one 
of another, and usurping the pre-eminence one over 
another." (Ib. 132.) 

ME AS ON ANNEXED. 

The promise of long life includes not only the con- 
tinuance of life for a long time, which may be so ac- 
companied with miseries that death may be more de- 
sirable, but also the blessing and prosperity of life. 
(Eph. vi. 2, 3 ; 1 Tim. iv. 8 ; Prov. iii. 1, 2.) Though 
all good children may not prosper in this world, yet 
they are most likely to prosper (Prov. xxii. 4), and 
they shall prosper as far as is for their own good and 
for God's glory. (Ps. 1. 15.) " Even for the Israelites," 
says Calvin, " long life in that land was not in itself a 
blessing, but only so far as it was a pledge of divine 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 223 



grace. Therefore, if God early removes from this life 
an obedient son, he is no less mindful of his promise 
than if he had given a hundred acres of land to every 
one to whom he had promised one. All depends on 
our understanding that a long life is promised us, so 
far as it is a blessing from God, but it is a blessing so 
far as it is a pledge of grace ; and this God can often 
accord more richly and more certainly to his servants 
in their death, which leads to eternal life." 

On his way to Washington to enter upon the duties of the 
Presidential chair, General Harrison made a visit to his native 
place in Virginia, and here, for the last time, saw the home of 
his infancy. He passed through the house from room to room 
until, upon arriving at a retired bed-chamber, he burst into 
tears, saying to a friend who accompanied him, "This is the 
spot where my mother used to pray with me." This was the 
hidden influence which had followed him through all the ex- 
citing scenes of his eventful life. 

There is too little respect paid to parental authority at the 
present day. It is grievous to go into many families and hear 
the language daily used by the children. There is truth as 
well as rhyme in a couplet by Randolph : 

" Whoever makes his parent's heart to bleed, 
Shall have a child that will revenge the deed." 

One thing is certain — an undutiful son and a disobedient 
daughter cannot long prosper. For a season they may appear 
well to the eye of a stranger, but their self-will and stubborn- 
ness are soon discovered, and they are despised. 

One day some men who had been condemned to hard labor 
on the public works for various crimes were occupied in re- 
pairing one of the Vienna streets. There passed that way a 
good-looking, well-dressed young man ; he stopped near one 
of the convicts, embraced him affectionately, and then went on. 



224 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



A state official had been at his window during this scene, 
and was much astonished at it. He had the young man brought 
to him, and said : " My friend, there is something very pecu- 
liar in embracing a convict in the street. What will people 
think of you ?" 

The young man said nothing for a few moments, but soon 
recovering himself, he replied : " My lord, I only followed 
the dictates of duty and my heart, for the convict is my 
father." 

Touched by these words and admiring the noble conduct of 
the young man, the official hastened to tell the emperor what 
had happened. The sovereign recognized the beauty of this 
filial act, and gave the convict's son an important post. He 
wished at once to show that the punishment of crime should 
be individual and not general, and that nothing should inter- 
fere with the divine precept, " Honor thy father and thy 
mother." 

Question 67. — Which is the sixth commandment f 
Answer. — The sixth commandment is, Thou shalt not 
hill 

Question 68. — What is required in the sixth com- 
mandment f 

Answer. — The sixth commandment requireth all law- 
ful endeavors to preserve our own life, and the life of 
others. 

Question 69. — What is forbidden in the sixth com- 
mandment f 

Answer. — The sixth commandment forbiddeth the 
taking away of our own life, or the life of our neigh- 
bor unjustly, or whatsoever tendeth thereunto. 

" It must be noticeable to every reader of the Deca- 
logue that its commands are nearly all prohibitions. 
There are but two exceptions in the ten — the com- 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 225 

mandment of the Sabbath and that of respect to 
parents. All the rest enjoin upon man not to per- 
form, but to abstain. This fact exhibits sin as an ever- 
acting principle which man is called upon to thwart. 
This principle acts against God and against our fel- 
low-man, and its cessation of energy can only be 
founded on a love to God stronger than love to self, 
and a love to our neighbor equal to the love of self, 
So when God commands us to cease from sin he is 
really bidding us to be holy." 

This sixth commandment chiefly respects the life 
of man. The love of life is the strongest of all our 
natural instincts, and the wisdom and benevolence of 
our Creator in making it so is obvious, since on the 
preservation of our life depend all the purposes of our 
existence. 

EAWEVT, ENDEAVORS. 

Dear, however, as life is to every human being, we 
are not to use for its preservation any other than " law- 
ful endeavors," and must be ready to resign it rather 
than violate our duty to Him who gave it. The cases 
are not a few in which duty must be preferred to life. 
Of such a preference the whole host of Christian mar- 
tyrs have exhibited noble examples. Our Saviour has 
told us in the most emphatic language that if we do 
not love him more than " our own life " we cannot be 
his disciples. (Matt. x. 33 ; xvi. 25, 26.) What lawful 
endeavors should we use for the preservation of our 
own life? The "just defence thereof against violence, 
a sober use of meat, drink, physic, sleep, labor and re- 
creation." {Larger Catechism, Question 135.) By what 
means should we endeavor to preserve the life of oth- 

15 



226 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

ers ? " By resisting all thoughts and purposes, subdu- 
ing all passions, and avoiding all occasions, temptations 
and practices which tend to the unjust taking away the 
life of any." We are restricted by the answer to "law- 
ful endeavors," in order to caution and guard us against 
the unlawful means which some have used for the pres- 
ervation of their lives. (Gen. xii. 12, 13.) 

lOJlHl DDEX. 

As there is no object expressed in this commandment, 
it prohibits suicide as well as homicide. It is absolutely 
unlawful in any case whatever to desert our station or 
leave the world without the permission and allowance 
of the sovereign Lord of our life. (Acts xvi. 27, 28; 
Job xiv. 14.) Any instances the Scripture gives of 
self-murder are in men of the most infamous character, 
such as Saul, Ahithophel, Judas and others of the like 
stamp. (1 Sam. xxxi. 4 ; Matt, xxvii. 5.) Magistrates, 
as God's ministers in executing vengeance, are in some 
cases commanded to put men to death, and in others it 
may be allowable because conducive to the public good. 
(Rom. xiii. 4.) Witnesses or executioners may also 
concur in such capital punishments without the guilt 
of murder. We may doubtless take away another's 
life in defence of our own, for he who assaults another's 
life by that action forfeits his own, and there is no op- 
portunity of referring the cause to the civil magistrate. 
Some wars are necessary and unavoidable to one party 
because of the injurious conduct of the other, and the 
blood shed in them is not imputed as murder ; yet the 
guilt of it must rest somewhere, and few wars indeed 
are so entered upon and conducted as to leave any of 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 227 



the contending parties free from blood-guiltiness. The 
duelist is a proud, unjust and revengeful murderer 
of the most atrocious kind, and in general he is dis- 
tinguished from all other criminals by an habitual 
determination to commit the sin whenever he shall 
be tempted to it. All fighting for wages or prizes or 
renown violates this command, and the blood thus 
shed is murder. (Gen. iv. 10 ; ix. 6 ; Prov. xxviii. 
17 ; John viii. 44 ; Ps. li. 14.) 

This commandment likewise prohibits us to assault, 
maim or wound others or to assist those who do, to 
tempt men to crimes that destroy their constitutions or 
endanger their lives, either from the sword of justice 
or the resentment of the injured party — nay, to entice 
them, by the prospect of a large reward, to such enter- 
prises and labors as are known generally to shorten 
life. The spiritual import of it prohibits all envy, re- 
venge, hatred or causeless anger, all that insulting lan- 
guage which provokes to wrath or murder, and all the 
pride, ambition, covetousness which prompt it. That 
man, indeed, will be condemned as the hater and mur- 
derer of his brother who, seeing his life endangered 
by the want of food, raiment or medicine, and having 
ability to relieve him, selfishly neglects to do it. (1 
John iii. 13-17 ; Matt. v. 22 ; Kom. xii. 19.) The spirit 
of this commandment extends to a proper concern, also, 
for our own souls and those of others. 

"What do you mean to do with K ?" said a friend of 

Theodore Hook, alluding to a man who had grossly vilified 
him. " Do with him ?" rejoined Hook ; " why I mean to let 
him alone most severely" 

Thomas Watson well remarks that surfeiting shortens life : 



228 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



More die of it than by the sword. Many dig their graves 
with their teeth. The cup kills more than the cannon." 

In a schoolroom in Boston a little boy about seven years of 
age was sitting beside his sister, about five years old. George 
got angry with his sister about something, doubled up his fist 
and struck her on the head. The little girl was just going to 
strike him back again when the teacher, seeing it, said, " My 
dear Mary, you had better kiss your brother. See how angry 
and unhappy he looks!" Mary looked at her brother; he 
looked sullen and wretched. Her resentment was soon gone, 
and love for her brother returned to her heart. She threw 
both her arms around his neck and kissed him. The poor boy 
was wholly unprepared for such a kind return for his blow. 
He could not stand before the generous affection of his sister. 
His feelings were touched and he burst into tears. His gentle 
sister took the corner of her apron and wiped away his tears, 
and sought to comfort him by saying, " Don't cry, George ; you 
did not hurt me much." But he only wept the more. 

Question 70. — Which is the seventh commandment f 
Answer. — The seventh commandment is, Thou shalt 
not commit adultery. 

Question 71. — What is required in the seventh com- 
mandment f 

Answer. — The seventh commandment requireth the 
' preservation of our own and our neighbor's chastity, in 
heart, speech, and behavior. 

Question 72. — What is forbidden in the seventh 
commandment f 

Answer. — The seventh commandment forbiddeth all 
unchaste thoughts, words, and actions. 

Leighton, in explaining this precept, says : " I purpose 
not to reckon up particularly the several sorts and 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 22& 

degrees of sin here forbidden, for chastity is a delicate, 
tender grace, and can scarcely endure the much nam- 
ing of itself, far less of those things that are so con- 
trary to it. Though in the law of God, given to the 
people of the Jews, there is express mention of the 
gross abominations of this kind, because practiced by 
the Gentiles, and to be forbidden them, and though 
the apostle, writing to the Gentiles newly converted 
from these abominations, of necessity mentions par- 
ticulars of them, yet, further than that necessity of re- 
proving them where they are in custom requires, he 
hates the very naming of them. (Eph. v. 3-12.) As 
the old Roman satirists, while they seem to reprove 
vice, rather teach it, by their impudent descriptions 
of it, the new Roman casuists, some of them, are as 
foul that way." It may suffice to regulate us in this 
if we believe this truth : that whatsoever is in this 
kind, besides the lawful use of marriage, is a breach 
of this holy law of God, whether it be in action or in 
words, or so much as in thought. And if this be true 
— as it is, if we believe truth, itself, our Saviour's inter- 
pretation — that an unchaste look or thought makes a 
man guilty, then surely whatsoever is beyond these is 
more grossly sinful. 

If you would be freed from the danger and importu- 
nity of this evil, make use of these usual and very 
useful rules : 1. Be sober and temperate in diet — with- 
draw fuel. 2. Be modest and circumspect in your 
carriage. Guard your eyes and ears and watch over 
all your deportment. Beware of undue and danger- 
ous familiarities with any upon what pretence soever. 
3. Be choice in your society, for there is much in that. 



230 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



4. In general, flee all occasions and incentives to un- 
cleanness. 

But the solid cure must begin within, otherwise all 
outward remedies will fail. Then — 1. Seek a total, 
entire change of heart and to have the sanctifying 
Spirit of grace within you. 2. Labor to have the 
heart possessed with deep apprehension of the holiness 
and purity of God, and then of his presence and eye 
upon all your actions and thoughts. 3. Acquaint 
yourself with spiritual enjoyments. 4. Increase in the 
love of Christ. Alas the misery which the sin here 
forbidden produces ! (See 1 Thess. iv. 4 ; Kom. xii. 1 ; 
1 Cor. vi. 19, 20 ; iii. 17 ; vii. 34 ; 2 Tim. ii. 22 ; James 
i. 15; Col. iv. 6 ; Zeph. iii. 9; 1 Pet. iii. 1 ; 1 Tim. ii. 
9 ; Jucle 23 ; Prov. v. 8 ; Job xxxi. 1 ; 2 Cor. vii. 1 ; 
Gal. v. 24 ; Eph. v. 3 ; 1 Cor. vi. 10 ; Matt. v. 28 ; 
Ezek. xxiii. 19 ; Eph. v. 4 ; iv. 29 ; Gal. v. 19 ; Kom. 
xiii. 13 ; Eph. v. 11 ; 1 Cor. vi. 13 ; Eccles. vii. 26.) 

William Kelly, of the Isle of Man, was very earnest and 
affectionate in his exhortations to his young friends, and used 
often to repeat to them that passage in the 119th Psalm: 

"How shall the young preserve their ways 
From all pollution free ? 
By making still their course of life 
With thy commands agree." 

And he would conclude by saying, " Remember the word all." 

Dr. Hugh Latimer, one of the primitive Reformers, was made 
bishop of Worcester in the reign of Henry VIII. It was the 
custom of those times for each of the bishops to make presents 
to the king on New Year's Day. Bishop Latimer went with 
the rest of his brethren to make the usual offering, but instead 
of a purse of gold he presented the king with a New Testa- 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 231 



merit, in which was a leaf doubled down to this passage: 
" Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." 

The pious M'Cheyne of Scotland remarks : " Eve, Achan, 
David, all fell through the 'lust of the eye.' I should make a 
covenant with mine, and pray/ Turn away mine eyes from be- 
holding vanity.' . . . Satan makes unconverted men like the 
deaf adder to the sound of the gospel. I should pray to be 
made deaf by the Holy Spirit to all that would tempt me to 
sin. I ought to meditate often on heaven as a world of holi- 
ness — where all are holy, where the joy is holy joy, the work 
holy work ; so that without personal holiness I never can be 
there." 

Question 73. — Which is the eighth commandment? 
Answer. — The eighth commandment is, Thou shalt 
not steal. 

Question 74. — WJiat is required in the eighth com- 
mandment f 

Answer. — The eighth commandment requireth the 
lawful procuring and furthering the wealth and out- 
ward estate of ourselves and others. 

Question 75. — What is forbidden in the eighth com- 
mandment f 

Answer. — The eighth commandment forbiddeth what- 
soever doth, or may, unjustly hinder our own, or our 
neighbor's, wealth or outward estate. 

To steal is to take privately tlie property of others 
with an intention to convert it to our own use. To 
rob is to take the same property for the same purpose 
openly and with violence. The crime of stealing has 
its origin in that spirit of covetousness which prompts 
us to wish inordinately for the enjoyments and posses- 
sions of others. This spirit when indulged continually 



232 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



acquires strength, and in many instances becomes ulti- 
mately so powerful as to break over every bound of 
right and reputation. He who indulges covetousness 
will find himself in danger wherever there is a 
temptation. 

The following sorts of thieves have been specified : 

1. The highway thief. (Lev. xix. 13.) 2. The house- 
thief, who steals his employer's money or goods. 3. 
The thief that under the pretence of law robs his 
client of his property. 4. The shop : thief, who uses 
false weights and measures, or puts excessive prices 
on his commodities. (Amos viii. 5 ; Hos. xii. 7 ; Lev. 
xix. 13; xxv. 14; 1 Thess. iv. 6.) 5. The usurer, who 
takes of others even to extortion, taking advantage 
of their necessity. (Luke xix. 8.) 6. The trustee, who 
appropriates the property committed to him to his own 
use. 7. The borrower, who borrows money from oth- 
ers with an intention never to pay them again. (Ps. 
xxxvii. 21 ; 2 Kings iv. 7.) 8. The man who receives 
goods which he knows or has good reason to believe 
have been stolen. 

It is possible for a man to steal from himself — 1. 
By niggardliness, not allowing himself what is fitting. 

2. By prodigality, wasting his estate. 3. By idleness, 
spending the time in pleasure and vanity, which God 
has given him to work out his salvation. 4. By surety- 
ship. (1 Cor. vi. 10.) 

We ought to forbear all manner of theft and en- 
deavors to enrich ourself by the wronging of others, 
because it is the express prohibition of God written 
in the Word, and most agreeable to the law of Nature 
written upon the heart ; as also because the riches got 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 233 

by theft and wrong are accompanied with God's curse, 
and, if not here, God's vengeance is sure to overtake 
such persons as are guilty of theft and unrighteousness 
in the other world. " This is the curse that goeth forth 
over the face of the whole earth : for every one that 
stealeth shall be cut off on this side : and it shall enter 
into the house of the thief, and shall consume it, with 
the timber thereof and the stones thereof." (Zech. v. 
3, 4.) "As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth 
them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, 
shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his 
end shall be a fool." (Jer. xvii. 11.) "Go to now, ye 
rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall 
come upon you : ye have heaped treasure together for 
the last days." (James v. 1, 3.) We may be kept from 
the sins forbidden in this eighth commandment, by mor- 
tified affections to the world through Christ's death and 
Spirit, by raised affections to the things above, by a love 
of justice, by prayer, by faith in God's promises and 
special providence in making all needful provision with- 
out this sin for his people. 

Mr. Boston states in his memoirs that having been employed 
when a young man for some time by a notary, his employer 
failed to pay him for his services. Seeing a neglected book 
lying in the notary's chamber, he secretly took it away, think- 
ing he might lawfully use this method of paying himself ; but 
on further reflection he viewed his conduct as sinful and incon- 
sistent with strict justice. Impressed with this conviction, he 
replaced the book with the same secrecy in which he had taken 
it away. An amiable instance of that tenderness of conscience 
for which the venerable man was remarkable. 

A beggar asking Dr. Smollett for alms, he gave him, through 
mistake, a guinea. The poor fellow, perceiving it, hobbled after 



234 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

him to return it, whereupon Smollett returned it to him with 
another guinea as a reward of his honesty, exclaiming at the 
same time, " What a lodging has honesty taken up with !" 

Question 76. — Which is the ninth commandment f 
Answer. — The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt 
not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 

Question 77. — What is required in the ninth com- 
mandment f 

Answer. — The ninth commandment requireth the 
maintaining and promoting of truth between man and 
man, and of our own and our neighbors good name, es- 
pecially in witness-bearing. 

Question 78. — What is forbidden in the ninth com- 
mandment t 

Answer. — The ninth commandment forbiddeth what- 
soever is prejudicial to truth, or injurious to our own or 
our neighbor s good name. 

This precept differs from the three preceding in the 
fact that whilst they have respect to injuries done by 
deeds or actions, this has reference to wrong done by 
words. The predominant sense of " bearing witness " 
is clearly indicated by the verb thus rendered, yet the 
term is of large import, equivalent to utter, pronounce, 
declare ; and while the letter admits, the spirit of the 
precept requires, that it should here be understood as 
forbidding everything that is contrary to strict veracity 
in our communications with our fellow-men. We say 
" with our fellow-men," for though the phrase " against 
thy neighbor " might seem to limit it to the narrower 
circle of our immediate neighbors, yet the interpreta- 
tion given to the term by our Saviour in the parable 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 235 

of the Good Samaritan plainly teaches us that a more 
extended application is to be assigned to it. 

The guilt of every species of lying, when perpetra- 
ted under the solemnities of an oath, is enhanced by 
these considerations: The sin in almost all cases is 
more deliberately committed. The person to whom 
an oath is administered has every opportunity which 
he can wish, for summoning up to the view of his mind 
every motive to the performance of his duty and every 
inducement to abstain from falsehood. These induce- 
ments also are the strongest conceivable. God in a 
peculiar manner is present to his thoughts — the God 
of truth, who has declared that all liars shall have their 
part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. 
His soul is put at hazard on his utterance of truth or 
falsehood. If he speaks falsehood, he voluntarily con- 
signs himself to perdition. If he is guilty of perjury, 
he is ruined also for this world. The stain is too deep 
ever to be wiped away. At the same time he does 
what is in his power to cut up confidence by the roots. 
" An oath for confirmation" says Paul, "is to them 
an end of all strife.^ (Heb. vi. 16.) If the con- 
fidence reposed in an oath could be reposed no more, 
human disputes must either be unsettled or terminated 
by the strength of the arm, and to this end he who per- 
jures himself does all in his power to conduct them. 

But, as already intimated, the scope of the prohi- 
bition embraces a multitude of aberrations from the 
strict law of sincerity and veracity embodied in this 
precept, which, at the same time, have nothing to do 
with judicial proceedings. Lies are commonly distin- 
guished into three kinds : First, malicious or pernicious 



236 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

lies, or lies the design of which is to do mischief. These 
are universally condemned. Secondly, jocose lies, or 
lies told for the purpose of amusement and merriment. 
However common these are, and however lightly they 
are thought of, a strict moralist will condemn them 
also, because truth is too sacred to be trifled with. 
Third, officious lies, which are so called because they 
are intended to promote the benefit of others. Equivo- 
cation is another species of falsehood, and consists in 
the studied use of terms which bear two different senses, 
in one of which the speaker understands them, while 
he means them to be understood in the other by the 
person addressed. He violates truth because he in- 
tends to deceive. It is violated also by mental reser- 
vation, which has been justified by popish casuists, but 
deserves universal execration, because it subverts all 
faith and confidence between man and man. 

Not only, however, does this commandment forbid 
all lies against our fellow-beings, and even injurious 
thoughts, groundless suspicions and secret prejudices 
or envy of the praises and commendations which they 
receive, but it also requires sincerity, truth, fidelity, can- 
dor and caution in all our conversation and conduct, 
and a disposition to honor in every man what is hon- 
orable, to commend what is commendable, to vindicate 
and excuse what can be vindicated and excused, and 
to conceal what may be lawfully concealed, and in 
every respect to consult his reputation, and even to 
rejoice in his credit and renown, as we should were it 
our own. 

(See Ps. xxxix. 1 ; Zech. viii. 16; Prov. xiv. 5; 2 
Cor. x. 16 ; Phil. iv. 8 ; 1 Pet. iv. 8 ; Col. iii. 9 ; Prov. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 237 



xii. 22 ; Ps. cxix. 163 ; Prov. xxvi. 18, 19 ; xxi. 6 ; Ps. 
xxxv. 11 ; Prov. x. 18 ; James iv. 11 ; Lev. xix. 16 ; 
Acts xxiii. 5 ; 1 Pet. iii. 9.) 

It was a law of the Scythians that the man who told a lie in 
connection with an oath should lose his head, because such an 
offence was adapted to take away all truth and mutual confi- 
dence among men. 

"God," says Watson, "hath set two fences to keep in the 
tongue — the teeth and the lips; and this commandment is a 
third fence set about it, that it should not break forth into evil." 

Slandering is to report things of others unjustly. Holiness 
itself is no shield from slander. You may smite another and 
never touch him. The wounds of the tongue no physician can 
heal, and to pretend friendship to a man, and yet slander him, 
is most odious. 

Question 79. — Which is the tenth commandment f 
Answer. — The tenth commandment is, Thou shaltnot 
covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy 
neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-ser- 
vant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy 
neighbor's. 

Question 80. — What is required in the tenth com- 
mandment f 

Answer. — The tenth commandment requireih full con- 
tentment with our own condition, with a right and chari- 
table frame of spirit toward our neighbor, and all that 
is his. 

Question 81 . — What is forbidden in the tenth com- 
mandment t 

Answer. — The tenth commandment forbiddeth all 
discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving 
at the good of our neighbor, and all inordinate motions 
and affections to any thing that is his. 



238 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



This commandment refers to the thoughts, inculcates 
disinterestedness, and prohibits indulging a desire after 
that which belongs to another. The all-wise Lawgiver 
knew both the blindness of man's mind and the hypoc- 
risy of his heart, as shown in being less concerned 
about his state of mind than his outward conduct, and 
therefore takes away all pretext and deprives him of 
all excuse, by giving this last commandment concerning 
the heart, and so teaching him the exact and spiritual 
nature of all the rest. 

CO VETO US NESS. 

This precept forbids — 1. Covetousness in general: 
Thou shalt not covet. A man may be said to be given 
to covetousness — (1.) When his thoughts are mainly 
absorbed by the world. (2.) When he is more anxious 
to get earthly things than to prepare for heaven. (3.) 
When his conversation is chiefly about the world. 
(John iii. 31 ; Eccles. x. 12.) (4.) When he over- 
loads himself with worldly business. (5.) When his 
heart is so set upon the world that to get it he cares 
not what indirect unlawful means he uses. (Hos. xii. 
7, 8.) 

This precept forbids covetousness in particular. The 
special objects here enumerated are not exhaustive, but 
only representative of a large class. The last clause 
denotes the wide range from which the enumerated 
objects are taken as specimens. The house, the wife, 
the servants, the cattle, represent the four principal de- 
partments of a man's earthly establishment — namely, 
his material possessions, his family, his household and 
his "live-stock." They illustrate and tend to define 



NOTES ON THE SHOETEE CATECHISM. 239 



the comprehensive phrase, "any thing that is thy 
neighbor's." 

Covetousness is — 1. A subtle sin. It is called "a 
cloak " (1. Thess. ii. 5), because it cloaks itself under 
the name of frugality and prudence. 2. It is a dan- 
gerous sin. It hinders the efficiency of the preached 
word (Matt. xiii. 7), and makes men have "a wither- 
ed hand " which they cannot stretch out to the poor. 
(See Luke xvi. 14.) 3. It is a mother-sin, a radical 
vice. (1 Tim. vi. 10.) 4. It is a sin dishonorable to 
religion. How disgraceful for those who say their 
hopes are above, to have their hearts below — for 
those who say they are born of God to be buried in 
the earth ! 5. It exposes to God's abhorrence. 6. It 
shuts men out of heaven. (Eph. v. 6.) 

REQUIRED. 

By " full contentment with our condition " is meant 
a cheerful acquiescence in the lot which God, in his 
holy and wise providence, is pleased to carve out for 
us in this world. (Heb. xiii. 5.) Though the perfec- 
tion of no grace is attainable in this life, yet a great 
measure and eminent degrees of grace, particularly 
that of contentment, may be, and have been, attained by 
Christians in this world. (Phil. iv. 11.) We may at- 
tain true contentment by looking above all the enjoy- 
ments of time as transitory and vain, to God himself 
as our chief good and eternal inheritance. (Ps. lxxii. 
10 ; xvi. 5, 6.) For reasons of contentment under 
adverse providences see Hos. vii. 9 ; Lam. iii. 39 ; 
James ii. 5 ; Luke xxii. 28, 29 ; Matt. xxv. 34 ; 2 Cor. 
iv. 17 ; Heb. xii. 10. We may be said to have " a 



240 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neigh- 
bor and all that is his " when our inward motions and 
affections are influenced by grace to sway and deter- 
mine us to promote and rejoice in the welfare of our 
neighbor, both as to his spiritual and temporal con- 
cerns. (1 Cor. xiii. 4-8.) 

FOMBIDDEK. 

The sins forbidden in this commandment are — 1. 
All sinful and inordinate desires and motions after 
other men's enjoyments. (Col. iii. 5.) 2. All cruelty 
and incompassionateness to others in necessity, and 
keeping back from them that which is made theirs by 
God's command. (Prov. xi. 24 ; Lev. xix. 9, 10.) 3. 
The detaining of the hireling's wages when it is due. 
(Hab. ii. 9—11.) 4. All inward grudgings at the en- 
joyments of others, and envyings of them, whether per- 
taining to the mind or the body. (1 Cor. xiii. 4.) 

Men first break the tenth commandment by coveting, and 
then they break the eighth by stealing. It was an excellent 
appeal that Samuel made to the Hebrew people : "Witness 
against me before the Lord, and before his anointed ; whose 
ox have I taken ? or whose ass have I taken ? or whom have 
I defrauded?" And it was a brave speech of Paul, "I have 
coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel." Whence was 
this? It was from contentment. " I have learned in whatever 
state I am, therewith to be content." 

In speaking of contentment, Philip Henry used to say : 
" When the mind and the condition meet, there is contentment. 
Now, either the condition must be brought up to the mind — and 
that is not only unreasonable, but impossible, for as the condi- 
tion riseth the mind riseth with it — or else the mind must be 
brought down to the condition, and that is both possible and 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 241 



reasonable." And lie observed, " that no condition of life 
will of itself make a man content without the grace of God, 
for we find Hainan discontented in the court, Ahab discontent- 
ed on the throne, Adam discontented in Paradise ; nay — and 
higher we cannot go — the angels that fell were discontented 
even in heaven itself." 

Question 82. — Is any man able perfectly to keep the 
commandments of God f 

Answer. — No mere man, since the fall, is able, in this 
life, perfectly to keep the commandments of God; but doth 
daily break them in thought, ivord, and deed. 

To keep " perfectly " the commandments of God is 
to keep all the commandments of God and at all times, 
without the least breach of them in regard of disposi- 
tion, inclination, thought, affection, word or conduct. 
(Gal. iii. 10; Matt. v. 21, 22; xxii. 37-39; James ii. 
10.) That every man ought to keep all the command- 
ments of God perfectly is evident from Deut. xviii. 13 
and xii. 32. And the reason of this is obvious. God 
requires and has a just title to our perfect obedience, 
and it tends to the advantage of ourselves and others. 

SINCE THE FALL. 

Adam kept the law in his innocent state (Eccles. vii. 
29 ; Gen. i. 27), and Christ perfectly kept it. (Matt. v. 
17 ; Heb. iv. 15.) But since the fall no mere man — 
i.e. no one of Adam's family descending from him 
by ordinary generation (see Acts xvii. 26) — has ever 
been able to keep the commandments perfectly. Do 
not Christians obey the law perfectly ? No, " for there 
is not a just man upon earth that doeth good, and sin- 
neth not." (Eccles. vii. 20.) Christians keep the com- 

16 



242 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

mandments of God sincerely, but not perfectly. (See 2 
Cor. i. 12 ; Ps. cxxx. 3 ; Horn. vii. 18, 19.) The Lord's 
Prayer, which is to be used daily, has this petition : 
" Forgive us our debts," or sins. But though no Chris- 
tian on earth ever attained absolute perfection, so as to 
obey God in all things, at all times, without any sin, yet, 
as already remarked, all Christians ought to endeavor 
after perfection, that they may attain higher and higher 
degrees of personal holiness. (Matt. v. 48.) Such an 
aim and effect are essential to the authentication of 
Christian character. Is it asked, Why does God suffer 
such impotency to lie upon man that he cannot per- 
fectly keep the law? the answer is: 1. To humble us. 
We are self-exalting creatures, but when we come to see 
our deficiencies and failings, and how far short we come 
of the holiness and perfection God's law requires, this 
is a means to pull down our plumes of pride, lay them 
in the dust and lead us to weep over our inability, 
blush over our leprous spots, and say, as Job, " I abhor 
myself and repent in dust and ashes." 2. God suffers 
our impotency to remain upon us, that we may have 
recourse to Christ to obtain pardon for our defects, and 
to sprinkle our best duties with his blood. 

THOUGHT, WORD INI) HEED. 

Do we sin daily ? Yes ; " in many things we offend 
all." (James iii. 2.) Do we daily sin in thought? Yes ; 
"the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth." 
(Gen. viii. 21.) Are we guilty of many tongue-sins? 
Yes ; " in the multitude of words there wanteth not 
sin." (Prov. x. 19.) Are the best guilty of many de- 
fects ? Yes ; for often " the spirit indeed is willing, but 



NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 243 



the flesh is weak." (Matt. xxvi. 41.) And of many 
inadvertencies ? Yes ; " they are overtaken in a fault." 
(Gal. vi. 1.) Can we tell how often we offend? No ; 
" who can understand his errors ?" (Ps. xix. 12.) Should 
we not, therefore, have recourse to Christ daily by faith 
and repentance? Yes ; "if any man sin, we have an 
advocate with the Father." (1 John ii. 1.) 

Note, 1. That we are wholly indebted to the free grace 
of God for salvation and eternal life (Tit. iii. 5), and not 
to anything in ourselves, who are, at best, but unprofit- 
able servants. (Luke xvii. 10.) 2. That a dreadful 
curse must needs lie on all unbelievers that are out of 
Christ. (John iii. 36 ; Gal. iii. 10.) 3. That all God's 
people should sigh under their unhappy sinful inclina- 
tions. " O wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver 
me from the body of this death ?" (Eom. vii. 24), and 
long to be with Christ in the perfect state, and with 
"the spirits of just men made perfect." (Heb. xii. 23.) 

Dr. Gill once preaching on human inability, a gentleman pres- 
ent was much offended, and took him to task for degrading human 
nature. "Pray, sir," said the doctor, "what do you think that 
man can contribute to his conversion ?" He enumerated a variety 
of particulars. "And have you done all this?" said the doctor. 
" Why, no, I cannot say I have yet, but I hope I shall begin 
soon." " If you have these things in your power, and have not 
done them, you deserve to be doubly damned, and are but ill 
qualified to be an advocate for free-will when it has done you 
so little good." 

A woman professing to be under deep conviction went to a 
minister, crying aloud that she was a sinner. But when he came 
to examine her in what point, though he went over and ex- 
plained all the ten commandments, she would not own that she 
had broken one of them ! 



244 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



Question 83. — Are all transgressions of the law 
equally heinous? 

Answer. — Some sins in themselves, and by reason of 
several aggravations, are more heinous hi the sight of 
God than others. 

MORE HEINOUS. 

What is it for sin to be " heinous " ? Sins are hein- 
ous as they are grievous and offensive to God. (Ezek. 
viii. 6, 13, 15.) Are not all sins hateful and offensive 
to God ? Yes, but not equally so. (Matt. vii. 3 ; John 
xix. 11.) Every sin has a voice to speak, but some sins 
cry. As some diseases are worse than others, and some 
poisons more venomous, so some sins are more heinous. 
(Ezek. xvi. 47 ; Jer. xvi. 12.) Every sin is done in 
the sight of God, who is the best judge of the heinous- 
ness of sins. (Ps. li. 4 ; Job xxxvi. 9 ; Hab. i. 13.) 

IN THEMSELVES. 

For sins to be heinous " in themselves " is to be 
heinous in their own nature, though no other aggravat- 
ing circumstances should attend them. Sins committed 
more immediately against God, or the first table of his 
law, are more heinous in their own nature than sins 
committed more immediately against man or any pre- 
cept of the second table. Likewise, some sins against 
the second table are more heinous in themselves than 
other sins against this table. For example, blasphemy 
against God is more heinous in its own nature than de- 
faming or speaking evil of our neighbor (1 Sam. ii. 
25), and adultery is more heinous than theft. (Prov. 
vi. 33-35.) 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 245 



AGGRAVA TIONS. 

Sins are aggravated by the following circumstances : 

1. From the -person offending or offended. The sins of 
superiors in gifts, graces, age or station, as parents, 
husbands, masters, magistrates, professors of religion 
or ministers, are more heinous than the same sins com- 
mitted by their respective inferiors. (Hos. v. 1 ; Rom. 
ii. 24, 21.) This is so because their sins prostitute 
more of the image or authority of God lodged in 
them, and do more to harden and encourage others in 
sin. (1 Kings xii. 25-33.) So, too, as previously hint- 
ed, sins committed immediately against God, or Christ 
as Mediator, or the Holy Spirit, are more heinous than 
like sins committed against men ; sins against many 
are more heinous than like sins against few; sins 
against Christians, particularly weak ones, more hein- 
ous than like sins against others ; sins against supe- 
riors more heinous than like sins against inferiors ; and 
sins against men's souls than like sins against their 
bodies. 

2. From the means against which they are committed. 
Sins committed against the express letter of the law, 
clear revelation, manifold warnings, reproofs, convic- 
tions, vows, resolutions, mercies, judgments, etc., are 
more heinous than the same sins committed in con- 
trary cases, because, besides the sin itself, there is an 
abuse of those clear revelations, etc. (Isa. xxvi. 10 ; 
Luke xii. 47.) 

3. From the quality of the offence. Sins committed 
in word and deed, or which cannot admit of restitu- 
tion, are more heinous than like sins only conceived in 
thought, or which admit of restitution. 



246 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



4. From the place in which they are committed. Thus 
sins committed in a land of light are more heinous than 
the same sins committed in a place of darkness ; sins 
in a place of great deliverance and mercies than the 
same sins in another place (Ps. cvi. 7); and sins in a 
public place, whereby others may be euticed and de- 
filed, than the same sins in secret places. (2 Sam. xvi. 
22.) 

5. From the time when they are committed. Thus 
sins may be more heinous from having been committed 
on the Sabbath ; sins after trouble and affliction more 
heinous than the same sins at another time (2 Chron. 
xxviii. 22 ; Isa. i. 5) ; and sins after repentance and 
engagements to be the Lord's, than the same sins be- 
fore such repentance and engagements. 

6. From the manner in which they are committed. If 
by contrivance (Mic. ii. 1) ; by delight (Prov. ii. 14) ; 
without blushing (Isa. iii. 9) ; Avith boasting (Phil. iii. 
19) ; by frequent repetition. (Num. xiv. 22.) We 
should take notice of these aggravations in our con- 
fessions. (Lev. xvi. 21.) 

The most heinous of all the sins in the world is the 
sin against the Holy Ghost. (See Matt. xii. 31 ; Mark 
iii. 29 ; 1 John v. 16 ; Heb. vi. 4-8 ; x. 26, 29 ; Tit. 
iii. 10, 11.) " This sin," says Ursinus, "is a denial of 
the acknowledged truth of God, and a willful opposition 
to it in connection with his will and works, concerning 
which the mind has been fully enlightened and convinc- 
ed by the testimony of the Holy Ghost ; all of which 
proceeds, not from fear or infirmity, but from a deter- 
mined hatred to the truth and from a heart filled with 
bitter malice." This sin shall not be forgiven — not be- 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 247 



cause the blood of Christ is not sufficient to wash it 
away, for his blood " cleanseth from all sin," but be- 
cause those who are guilty of it willfully, maliciously 
and perseveriDgly reject the testimony of Christ speak- 
ing by the Holy Ghost in his word. 

" Once I was blind to the evil of sin in general, and in par- 
ticular to the number and aggravation of my own transgres- 
sions. Except for some overt transgression I felt but little 
consciousness of guilt. But I have since realized that sin is an 
evil and bitter thing, and that my own sins are exceedingly nu- 
merous and aggravated. Many things which once appeared 
lawful, and even laudable, appear now exceedingly sinful and 
odious ; and never more so, I think, than when all thought of 
punishment is out of mind. When I think of my sins as vio- 
lations of God's reasonable and holy law, they appear inexcu- 
sable and criminal beyond description. When I consider them 
as committed against God, they look like a compound of the 
most presumptuous rebellion, the most wanton ingratitude, the 
most wicked irreverence. When I dwell on their tendency, as 
it respects my fellow-sinners, they seem to be unmixed malevo- 
lence." — Pliny Fiske. 

Respecting the danger of what some improperly call little 
sins, it has been said, "A small penknife will take away life 
as well as a large sword." 

Question 84. — What doth every sin deserve t 
Answer. — Every sin deserveth God's wrath and 
curse, both in this life, and that which is to come. 

" A principal design of this answer doubtless was," 
says Dr. Ashbel Green, "to oppose the absurd and 
dangerous distinction which is made in the Romish 
Church between some sins which are represented as 
venial — that is, such as are in their nature so small 
and trivial that they may be expiated by penance or 



248 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

by some other mode of making satisfaction for them 
by the offenders — and other sins which are mortal — 
that is, such as subject the parties committing them 
to the penalty of death, even death eternal." 

evitj of sim 

The evil of sin consists principally in the offence it 
gives and the wrong it does to God. (Ps. li. 4.) It is 
enmity to God. (Rom. viii. 7 ; Lev. xxvi. 40 ; Acts v. 
39 ; vii. 51.) It is called hatred of God (Rom. i. 30), 
rebellion against God (1 Sam. xv. 23), contempt of 
God. (2 Sam. xii. 9.) It wrongs all God's attributes. 
It slights his sovereignty (Ex. v. 2), resists his 
power (1 Cor. x. 22), despises his goodness (Rom. 
ii. 4), impeaches his justice (Ezek. xviii. 25), clouds 
his holiness. (James ii. 7.) 

By sin's deserving God's wrath and curse is meant, 
that it is worthy of it. The desert of sin is not separa- 
ble from the nature of it. As sin is the very opposite 
of God's holy nature and righteous law, it cannot but 
deserve his wrath and curse. (Rom. i. 32. See also 
Gal. iii. 10.) " The wages of sin is death," says the 
apostle. (Rom. vi. 23.) He makes no distinction be- 
tween one kind of sin and another ; and by the wages 
of sin he manifestly means the desert of sin. Death, 
therefore, according to him, is the desert of every sin ; 
which is precisely what our Catechism affirms, for by 
death in this place, the context proves beyond a ques- 
tion, we are to understand everlasting punishment, which 
is the same thing that is intended in the answer before 
us. by " the wrath and curse of God, both in this life 
and in that which is to come," all the sufferings of this 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 249 

life being the deserved effects of sin, and the com- 
mencement to every finally impenitent sinner of the 
wrath of God to endless ages. It is scarcely necessary 
to say that by the wrath of God is not meant anything 
like passion, which always implies change, and there- 
fore imperfection, which we know cannot belong to the 
Supreme Being. By the wrath of God we are to un- 
derstand " that most pure and undisturbed act of his 
will which produces most dreadful effects against the 
sinner." (See Ezek. vii. 27 ; John iii. 36 ; Rom. ii. 5, 
6, 8 ; Deut. xxviii. 15 ; Col. iii. 6 ; Prov. i. 26.) Whilst 
every sin deserves God's wrath and curse, greater sins 
deserve greater wrath, and shall be punished accord- 
ingly. 

PRACTICAL IiJESS ONS. 

1. We learn the safety of believers. Christ has freed 
them from the desert of their sins. (John iii. 18 ; 
Zeph. iii. 17 ; Hos. xiii. 14; Rom. iv. 25 ; viii. 1, 33, 
34.) 2. The impossibility of satisfying God's justice 
for the least sin that ever we committed. (Job vii. 20 ; 
Ps. cxxx. 3.) 3. The necessity of a Mediator between 
God and us. (Ps. xl. 6, 7.) 4. The amazing love of 
God in transferring the guilt and punishment of sin 
to the glorious Surety. (2 Cor. v. 21.) 5. The wonder- 
ful patience of God in not bringing this wrath and 
curse upon us all this while. (Ps. ciii. 8, 10.) 6. The 
importance of laboring to prevent the wrath we have 
deserved. How careful are men to prevent poverty 
or disgrace ! Oh, labor to prevent God's eternal wrath, 
that it may not only be deferred, but also removed ! 
This can be done, and only done, by getting an interest 
in Jesus Christ. (1 Thess. i. 10.) 



250 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



The heinousness of any sin is not to be judged of by the 
magnitude of the object about which it is conversant, or the 
grossness of the outward action. When the Lord expressly 
says, "Thou shalt not," and his rational creature says, "I 
will," whether the contest be about an apple or a kingdom, 
it is stubbornness and rebellion. 

A venerable minister at H preached, on the subject of 

eternal punishment. On the next day it was agreed among 
some thoughtless young men that one of them should go to 
him and endeavor to draw him into dispute, with the design 
of making a jest of him and his doctrine. The wag accord- 
ingly went, was introduced into the minister's study, and com- 
menced the conversation by saying, " I believe there is a small 
dispute between you and me, and I thought I would call this 
morning and try to settle it." " Ah," said the clergyman, 
" what is it?" " Why," replied the wag, "you say that the 
wicked will go into everlasting punishment, and I do not think 
that they will." "Oh, if that is all," answered the minister, 
" there is no dispute between you and me. If you turn to 
Matt. xxv. 46, yon will find that the dispute is between you 
and the Lord Jesus Christ ; and I advise you to go immediate- 
ly and settle it with him." 

Question 85. — What doth God require of us, that 
we may escape his wrath and curse, due to us for sin f 

Answer. — To escape the wrath and curse of God, 
due to us for sin, God requireth of us faith in Jesiis 
Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all 
the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us 
the benefits of redemption. 

Our greatest concern is to inquire what is to be done 
by us " that we may escape the wrath and curse of 
God due to us for sin." (Mic. vi. 6.) A convinced 
conscience will put us upon this inquiry. (Acts ii. 37.) 
We must be serious and solicitous in this inquiry. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 251 



(Acts xvi. 30.) We must be prompt in this inquiry. 
(Isa. xxi. 12.) We must make this inquiry with reso- 
lution. ( Jer. 1. 5.) We must apply ourselves to Christ 
with this inquiry. (Matt. xix. 16.) 

THREE THINGS REQUIRED. 

God requires three things of us that we may escape 
his wrath and curse due to us for sin : 1 . Faith in 
Jesus Christ. 2. Eepentance unto life. 3. The dili- 
gent use of all outward means whereby Christ com- 
municates to us the benefits of redemption. 

Are the things which God requires of us in man's 
power to perform ? No. Though they are our duties, 
yet we have no power in ourselves by nature to perform 
them, but the power is of God. (2 Cor. iii. 5.) Why 
does God require those things from us when he knows 
we cannot perform them ? To show us our duty, con- 
vince us of our weakness, and chiefly to excite us to 
embrace his gracious promise, that we may receive 
them from Christ as our free 'privilege. Does God re- 
quire anything of us in point of duty without prom- 
ising suitable strength for the performance of it ? No ; 
for he has said, " I will cause you to walk in my stat- 
utes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." 
(Ezek. xxxvi. 27.) 

FAITH. 

God requires of us faith in Jesus Christ, because by 
such faith we have an interest in him and in his im- 
puted righteousness and the promise he has made to us 
of remission and salvation. (Phil. iii. 9 ; Acts x. 43 ; 
Eph. ii. 8.) Faith is placed first, because till we have 



252 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



faith we can neither repent nor rightly attend on God's 
ordinances. (Rom. xiv. 23.) 

REPENTANCE UNTO JLIFE. 

God requires of us repentance unto life, because the 
promise of forgiveness of sin is made to repentance 
as a concomitant of faith, and it is not for God's honor 
to pardon and save any that go on still in their tres- 
passes. (Acts iii. 19 ; xx. 21.) 

OUTWARD MEANS. 

God requires of us the use of all outward means to 
escape his wrath and curse, because, although he could 
save without means, yet it is his will to appoint means 
which have been instituted by him. We cannot ex- 
pect the benefits of redemption and salvation to be com- 
municated to us in any other way. (1 Cor. i. 21 ; Acts 
viii. 22.) By a " diligent use " of such means is 
meant an embracing every opportunity offered in provi- 
dence for attending upon God in them, looking earn- 
estly for his blessing upon them, by which alone they 
become efficacious for our spiritual benefit. (1 Cor. iii. 
6, 7.) The external ordinances should be used dili- 
gently, because our eternal salvation is so connected 
with the right use of them. (Isa. lv. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7.) Do 
all believing and penitent sinners escape God's wrath 
and curse ? Yes, they do, and shall for ever escape it. 
(Rom. viii. 1 ; Col. i. 12, 13 ; John v. 24.) 

A certain man in Hindostan had inquired of various de- 
votees and priests how he might make atonement for his 
sins; and he was directed to drive iron spikes, sufficiently- 
blunted, through his sandals, and on these spikes he was di- 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 253 



rected to place his naked feet and to walk about four hundred 
and eighty miles. If through loss of blood or weakness of 
body he was obliged to halt, he might wait for healing and 
strength. He undertook the journey, and while he halted 
under a large shady tree where the gospel was sometimes 
preached, one of the missionaries came and preached in his 
hearing from these words : " The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth 
from all sin." While he was preaching, the man rose up, threw 
off his torturing sandals, and cried out aloud, " This is what I 
want ;" and he became an earnest witness that the blood of Jesus 
Christ does cleanse from all sin indeed. 

"Mamma," said a little child, " my Sabbath-school teacher 
tells me that this world is only a place in which God lets us 
live a while that we may prepare for a better world. But, 
mother, I do not see anybody preparing. I see you preparing 
to go into the country, and Aunt Ellen is preparing to come 
here. But I do not see any one preparing to go there. Why 
don't you try to get ready? You scarce ever speak about 
going." 

Question 86. — What is faith in Jesus Christ? 

Answer. — Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, 
whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salva- 
tion, as he is offered to us in the gospel. 

The faith to which the answer to this question re- 
fers, is justifying faith, or the faith by which a sinner 
obtains an interest in Jesus Christ and the blessings 
of salvation. It is called justifying faith on ac- 
count of the design to which it is subservient, and 
in this yiew its exclusive object is that part of revela- 
tion which relates to the Saviour, or the gospel strictly 
so called. 

Why is faith called a grace t Because it beautifies 
our soul and is freely given by God to us. Why is it 
called a saving grace ? Because it interests us in Christ 



254 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

and his salvation. Faith is a saving grace, not by the 
act of believing as an act, for then it would save as a 
work, whereas we are saved by faith in opposition to 
all works ; but faith is a saving grace as an instru- 
ment, apprehending and applying Jesus Christ and 
his perfect righteousness, whereby alone we are saved. 
(John iii. 16 ; Acts xvi. 31 ; Kom. iii. 22.) It is the 
hand that is stretched out to receive Christ in the 
promise. (Ps. lxviii. 31 ; Mark xvi. 16.) 

OBJECT. 

The primary object of faith is the person of Christ, 
and the secondary are his benefits. (Phil. iii. 8, 9.) 
Nothing can fill the eye or hand of faith but Christ 
only, or God in him. (Ps. lxxiii. 25.) Nothing will 
relieve the mind of a criminal doomed to die, but 
authentic information that his sovereign is willing to 
pardon him, and nothing will set the convinced sin- 
ner free from the terror which he feels, but the know- 
ledge of the mercy of God through the mediation of 
his Son. The object, then, of justifying faith is Christ 
crucified — Christ as having borne our sins in his own 
body on the tree, his blood shed as a propitiation for 
sin, and the everlasting righteousness which he brought 
in as the foundation of hope to those who had no hope 
in themselves. May not a man look partly to Christ 
and partly to his own works and duties for righteous- 
ness ? No ; he must look to Christ, and exclude every- 
thing else, or he cannot be justified. (Phil. iii. 9.) Is 
it enough to look to the person of Christ only in be- 
lieving ? No ; we must look to the person of Christ as 
clothed with all his offices. (Acts xvi. 31.) Our ignor- 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 255 



aDce needs him as a Prophet, our guilt as a Priest, our 
sins and enemies as a King. (See John xiv. 1 ; Rom i. 
17 ; x. 8 ; Phil. i. 29 ; Heb. iii. 19.) 

ELEMENTS. 

Faith is here represented as " receiving Jesus Christ " 
(John i. 12) and "resting" on him. (Ps. lxxiii. 25.) 
There are other representations of faith in Scripture. 
It is called a persuasion, a looking, coming, running, 
fleeing, flying and entering with Christ, a testing and 
leaning on him, a believing, trusting, living, dwelling 
and walking in him, etc. (See Heb. xi. 13 ; Isa. xlv. 
22 ; Matt. xi. 28 ; Prov. xviii. 10 ; Isa. xl. 31 ; Heb. vi. 
9 ; Isa. lx. 8.) These various representations show 
the extensive improvement which faith as a habit 
makes of Christ in his manifold relations to us. 
When the flesh and blood of Christ are exhibited as 
meat indeed and drink indeed, faith is called eating 
and drinking of the same ; when he is held forth as 
a refuge, faith is a flying to him for safety (Heb. vi. 
1 8) ; when he is called a door, faith is an entering in 
by him. (John x. 9.) The seat or habitation of faith 
is not only the head or understanding, but principally 
the heart and will. (Rom. x. 10 ; Acts viii. 37.) The 
mere assent of the understanding to the truths of 
Scripture is not such a faith as will save .the soul. 
Saving faith is the receiving of Christ by the full and 
hearty consent of the heart. (John i. 12.) In the an- 
swer this faith is called a " receiving " of Christ, be- 
cause he, as the glorious object of it, is revealed in 
Scripture under the notion of a gift (2 Cor. ix. 15), 
presented to such as are quite poor and have nothing 



256 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



of their own. It is also called a " resting " on Christ, 
because he is revealed in the word as a firm founda- 
tion (Isa. xxviii. 16) on which we may lay the weight 
of our everlasting concerns with the greatest confidence 
and satisfaction. (Ps. cxvi. 7.) The soul, convinced of 
its lost condition, lays hold on Christ, relies upon him 
and puts confidence in him, and in him alone, for sal- 
vation. (See John iii. 33 ; Matt. xi. 29 ; 1 Tim. i. 15 ; 
Col. ii. 6 ; Kom. v. 11 ; Acts v. 31.) 

OFFISH ED IN THE GOSPEL. 

We are to receive and rest upon Christ upon the 
warrant of his being offered. He is offered to us sin- 
ners of Adam's race in contradistinction to the angels 
that fell. (Heb. ii. 16.) This offer is made in the gos- 
pel. (Luke ii. 10 ; 1 John ii. 25 ; Prov. viii. 4.) It is 
made in the form of a deed of gift or grant, in which 
God the Father makes over his Son, Jesus Christ, to 
mankind lost, that whosoever of them shall receive this 
gift shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John iii. 
16.) That the universality of Heaven's grant infers a 
universal warrant to believe is evident, because if there 
were not such a gift and grant of Christ as warranted 
all to receive him, the unbelieving world could not be 
condemned for rejecting him, as we find they are. (John 
iii. 18.) Christ is offered in the gospel freely (Isa. lv. 
1), wholly (1 Cor. i. 30), particularly. (John vii. 37; 
ix. 35 ; 1 Tim. i. 15.) 

"My confidence is," said the pious Dr. Doddridge shortly 
before his death, u not that I have lived such or such a life or 
served God in this or the other manner. I know of no prayer 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 257 



I ever offered, no service I ever performed, but there has been 
such a mixture of what was wrong in it that, instead of recom- 
mending me to the favor of God, I needed his pardon through 
Christ for the same. Yet I am full of confidence, and this is 
my confidence : There is a hope set before me. I have fled, I 
still fly, for refuge to that hope." 

"It is just a year this day," says Mrs. Judson, "since I en- 
tertained hope in Christ — about this time in the evening, when 
reflecting on the words of the lepers, ' If we enter into the city, 
then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there ; and if 
we sit still here, we die also/ and I felt that if I returned to the 
world I should surely perish. If I stayed where I then was, I 
should perish, and I could but perish if I threw myself on the 
mercy of Christ. Then came light and relief, and comfort such 
as I never knew before." 

Question 87. — What is repentance unto life? 

Answer. — Repentance unto life is a saving grace, 
whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, 
and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, 
doth, with grief and haired of his sin, turn from it 
unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, 
new obedience. 

This means of salvation is called " repentance unto 
life," because it proceeds from and is an evidence of 
spiritual life, and issues in eternal life. (Acts xi. 18.) 
It is also so called to distinguish it from the sorrow of 
the world, which worketh death (2 Cor. vii. 10), and 
from legal repentance. Legal and evangelical repent- 
ance differ — 1. In their order. The former goes before 
faith in Christ, the latter follows after it. (Zech. xii. 
10.) 2. In their came. The former flows from the 
view of God's justice and wrath in his threatenings 
and judgments, the latter flows from the view of God's 
17 



258 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

holiness and love manifested in the death of Christ 
and the precepts of the law. 3. In their object. In 
the former we are affected chiefly with the guilt of 
sin and with gross sins, but in the latter we are affect- 
ed chiefly with the filth of sin, the dishonor done to God 
by it, and with secret and beloved sins. (Gen. iv.) 4. 
In their fruits. The former turns us only from some 
acts of sin, and worketh death by exciting lust and 
filling us with wrath against God because of his justice 
and holiness, but the latter turns us from the love of 
every sin and leads to eternal life. (1 Kings xxi. 27.) 
Repentance is a " grace ;" that is, an unspeakable and 
unmerited favor. (2 Tim. ii. 25 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27.) 
It is a " saving " grace. (2 Cor. vii. 10.) By faith the 
redeemed of the Lord become entitled to heaven, and 
by repentance they become prepared or qualified for 
its employments and enjoyments. 

TRUE SENSE OF HIS SIN. 

The true sense of sin which is requisite in repent- 
ance, consists in such an inward feeling of our miser- 
able and lost estate, by reason of the wrath and curse 
of God and the everlasting punishment to which, for 
our sins, we are exposed, as puts us into great perplex- 
ity and trouble of spirit, so that our consciences, being 
thereby pricked and wounded, can find no quiet and 
take no rest in this condition. (Acts ii. 37 ; Josh. vii. 
20 ; Ps. Ii. 4, 5 ; Job xl. 4 ; Ps. cxxx. 3.) There is 
need of this sense of sin to true repentance, because 
without this sense of sin sinners will not forsake sin, 
nor apply themselves to the Lord Jesus for pardon 
and healing. (Matt. ix. 12, 13.) 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 259 



APPREHENSION OF THE MEItCY OF GOD IN 
CHRIST. 

When there is a distinct apprehension of the mercy 
of God in Christ, it furnishes the only pure as well 
as the most powerful motive to genuine repentance. 
While the soul is filled with self-abhorrence in the 
view of having sinned against a merciful God and 
Saviour, it is melted into genuine sorrow for all its 
sin, made to look on it with the greatest detestation, 
and at the same time is filled with humble love and 
adoring gratitude to God, and with a most intense de- 
sire to avoid offending him in time to come. (Ps. cxxx. 
4 ; Rom. ii. 4 ; Matt. iii. 2.) There cannot be true re- 
pentance where there is a despair of mercy. (Jer. ii. 
25.) We have reason to hope for that mercy. (Isa. 
lv. 7.) 

GRIEF AND HATRED OF SIN. 

The grief which is an ingredient of true repentance 
is a real, inward and abiding sorrow for sin as offensive 
and dishonoring to a holy and gracious God. (Job xl. 
4, 5 ; Acts ii. 37 ; Ezek. vii. 16 ; Matt. xxvi. 75 ; Zech. 
xii. 10.) The hatred of sin which accompanies true 
repentance is not only a loathing and abhorring of our 
sin, but of ourselves on account of it. (Isa. vi. 5 ; Ps. 
cxix. 128 ; Job xlii. 6 ; Ezra ix. 6 ; Luke xviii. 13.) 

TURN FROM IT UNTO GOD. 

We must turn from sin as well as grieve for it. (Isa. 
lv. 7 ; Prov. xxviii. 13.) Though repentance begins 
at the heart, it does not rest there, but goes into the 
life. What a change did it make in Paul ! (Acts xxvi. 
9 ; Phil. iii. 8.) What a change did it produce in the 



260 NOTES ON THE SHOETER CATECHISM. 

jailer ! (Acts xvi. 33.) " Break off thy sins by right- 
eousness." (Dan. iv. 27.) The breaking off of sin must 
be — 1. Universal, a breaking off of all sins. 2. Sincere; 
it must be from the heart. (Ezek. xviii. 31.) 3. Per- 
petaal. (Hos. xiv. 8.) Turniug from sin, however, is 
but the negative part of religion ; there must also be 
a sincere turning to God. (Ps. cxix. 59 ; Acts xi. 23 ; 
Jer. iii. 22 ; Josh. xxiv. 24.) We are to have " re- 
pentance toward God." (Acts xx. 21.) We are not 
only to cease to do evil, " but learn to do well." " "lis 
not enough," says an old writer, " when we repent, to 
leave old sins, but we must engage in God's service, 
as when the wind leaves the west it turns into a con- 
trary corner. The repenting Prodigal did not only 
leave his harlots, but also did arise and go to his 
father. (Luke xv. 18.) In true repentance the heart 
points directly to God, as the needle to the north 
pole." (See 2 Cor. vii. 11.) The " purpose " of duty to 
God, into which the true penitent enters, is a purpose 
or resolution to return to the practice of every known 
duty (Ps. cxix. 106), and to spirituality in it. (Phil, 
iii. 3.) It is a " full " purpose, because it is a deter- 
mined one and immediately put in execution. (Ps. 
cxix. 60.) It is connected with " endeavor," because 
purposes without endeavors are like blossoms without 
fruit. (Matt. xxi. 30.) The " obedience " mentioned 
is " new," because it proceeds from a new principle 
(Matt, vii. 17), is influenced by new motives, is direct- 
ed by a new rule, and has a new end — the glory of 
God. (Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27.) None that truly repent 
do in this life perform new obedience fully without 
any failure or defect, but they diligently endeavor to 



NOTES ON THE SHOHTEE CATECHISM. 261 



do it, and wherein they fall short it is their grief and 
trouble. (Ps. xxxviii. 17.) 

" Which is the most delightful emotion ?" said an instructor 
of the deaf and dumb to his pupils after teaching them the 
names of our various feelings. The pupils turned instinctively 
to their slates to write an answer, and one with a smiling 
countenance wrote Joy. It would seem as if none could write 
anything else ; but another with a look of more thoughtfulness 
put down Hope. A third with beaming countenance wrote 
Gratitude. A fourth wrote Love, and other feelings still 
claimed the superiority on other minds. One turned back 
with a countenance full of peace, and yet a tearful eye, and the 
teacher was surprised to find on her slate, " Repentance is the 
most delightful emotion." He turned to her with marks of 
wonder and asked, " Why ?" " Oh," said she in the expressive 
language of looks and gestures which marks these mutes, "it is 
so delightful to be humbled before God !" 

"I pay more attention," says Mr. Booth, "to people's lives 
than to their deaths. In all the visits I have paid to the sick 
during the course of a long ministry, I never met with one that 
ever recovered from what he supposed the brink of death, who 
afterward performed his vows and became religious, notwith- 
standing the very great appearance there was in their favor 
when they thought they could not recover." 

Question 88. — W hat are the outward and ordinary 
means ivhereby Christ communieateth to us the benefits 
of redemption? 

Answer. — The outward and ordinary means whereby 
Christ communieateth to us the benefits of redemption 
are, his ordinances, especially the word, sacraments, and 
prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for 
salvation. 

By " the benefits of redemption " we are to under- 
stand all the blessings of Christ's purchase, which may 



262 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



be summed up in grace here and glory hereafter. (Ps. 
Ixxxiv. 11.) It is Christ that communicates these bless- 
ings. " Of his fullness have all we received." (John i. 
16.) 

OTITWARD AND ORDINARY MEANS. 

The " means " here specified are called " outward " 
to distinguish them from the Spirit and his grace, 
which are the inward means of salvation. (John iii. 
5, 6.) They are called " ordinary," because the Lord 
has not wholly limited and bound up himself to his 
ordinances, for he can in an extraordinary way bring 
some out of a state of nature into a state of grace, as 
Paul, who was converted by a light and a voice from 
heaven. (John iii. 8.) But the ordinances are the 
most usual way and means of conversion and salva- 
tion, without the use of which we cannot, upon good 
ground, expect that any benefit of redemption should 
be communicated to us. (Ex. xx. 24 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 37 ; 
xxxvii. 28.) 

MIS ORDINANCES. 

Nothing makes anything a divine ordinance but the 
institution or appointment of God. (Matt, xxviii. 20.) 
The three great gospel ordinances are "the word, sacra- 
ments and prayer." (Acts ii. 41, 42.) They are called 
Christ's ordinances, because they are all of them insti- 
tuted and prescribed by him in his word, as the only 
King and Head of his Church, to be observed in it 
to the end of the world. (Matt, xxviii. 20.) May not 
men institute ordinances of divine worship ? No ; 
this in Scripture is condemned as will-worship. (Col. 
ii. 20, 21, 23.) 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 263 



THE WORD. 

By this phrase is meant the whole revealed will of 
God contained in the Bible, consisting of the Old and 
New Testaments. No part of this word is superfluous, 
but some portions of it are more practical than others, 
and on that account ought to be more frequently pe- 
rused and more diligently studied. It is an error which 
cannot be committed without suffering loss, to omit the 
attentive and repeated reading of the whole of the Sa- 
cred Scriptures. In the word we have God's will re- 
vealed, and by it the intellectual and moral powers of 
man are influenced in subservience to his purpose, for 
God deals with him in religion as a rational being. 
What is the special usefulness of the word for commu- 
nicating the benefits of redemption ? In it these bene- 
fits are exhibited and offered to sinners of mankind as 
the ground of their faith, that believing they may be 
possessed of them all. (John xx. 31.) 

SACRAMENTS. 

Some suppose the word sacrament is borrowed from 
sacramentum, a Latin word, which signifies an oath, 
and particularly the oath by which the Roman soldiers 
bound themselves to fidelity to their commander, and 
that the word is applied to the symbolical institutions 
of the Church because in these we, as it were, enlist 
under the banner of Jesus Christ and engage to follow 
him whithersoever he leads us. But it is probable that 
the symbolic ordinances of our religion were called 
sacraments because they were considered as mysteries, 
on account either of the recondite sense of the sym- 
bols or of the air of mystery with which the sacred 



264 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

Supper was celebrated in the ancient Church. The 
special usefulness of the sacraments for communicating 
the benefits of redemption is, that they represent to 
our senses what the word does to our faith, and are 
designed for the confirmation of it. (1 Cor. x. 16 ; 
Rom. iv. 11.) 

FKAYER. 

" The prayer of faith," says an old writer, " fetches 
home to the soul all the good that is wrapped up both 
in the word and in the sacraments." (Mark xi. 24.) 

MADE EFFECTVAL. 

The means have no inherent efficacy in themselves 
to produce the blessings of redemption. They must be 
made effectual to salvation. Means are not ends, and 
are never rested in till the end is attained, for which 
alone they are used. The ordinances are made effect- 
ual to salvation by being made means not only of re- 
vealing and offering salvation, but also of giving the 
real possession of it to us. (Eph. i. 13, 14.) 

ELECT. 

Are gospel ordinances made effectual to all for sal- 
vation ? No. (1 Cor. x. 5.) Are they made effectual 
to the elect ? Yes. (Acts xiii. 48.) 

SALTATION. 

By this is meant not only a begun deliverance from 
all sin and misery, and a begun possession of all hap- 
piness and blessedness in this life (John iii. 15), but 
likewise a total freedom from the one, and a full and 
uninterrupted enjoyment of the other in the life to 
come. (Rev. xxi. 4.) 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 265 



On a certain occasion, when a minister was speaking of the 
neglect of family duties — of reading the Scriptures and of fam- 
ily prayer — a little girl, who listened attentively and perceived 
that the preacher was describing a neglect that she had herself 
noticed at home, whispered to her mother, " Ma, is the minister 
talking to you ?" To the mother this simple question was more 
powerful than the sermon. She was immediately brought under 
deep convictions of sin, which resulted in her hopeful conver- 
sion to God. 

"It was our communion last Sabbath," wrote Mr. Patterson 
to his friend Mr. Ede, " and I think I never felt my soul more 
drawn forth to Jesus and away from myself and every creature. 
And oh, if communion on earth be so sweet, what must it be 
in heaven, where there is no Avandering heart and no tempting 
devil and no ensnaring world ! . . . The marriage supper has- 
tens. Oh, how little have we seen of Christ ! There is enough 
in him to fill men and angels with new wonder to all eternity." 

Question 89. — How is the word made effectual to 
salvation f 

Answer. — The Spirit of God maheth the reading, 
but especially the preaching, of the word, an effectual 
means of convincing and converting sinners, and of 
building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith 
unto salvation. 

THE WO Til). 

By this expression is meant the whole of divine rev- 
elation contained in the Scriptures of the Old and 
New Testaments, which though ministered by men, 
yet is no other than the very word of God, and is to 
be received as such. (1 Thess. ii. 13.) (See p. 263.) 

AN EFFECTUAL, MEANS. 

The Holy Spirit makes the word effectual for our 
salvation. (1 Thess. i. 5 ; ii. 13 ; Acts ix. 21 ; Rom. i. 



266 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

16.) The word is a means of conviction, because it 
shows what is sinful, and exhibits the nature, aggrava- 
tions and wages of sin. (1 Cor. xiv. 24, 25 ; Ps. xix. 
11 ; Actsii. 37 ; Heb. iv. 12; Jer. xxiii. 22.) It is a 
means of conversion, because it shows why, from what 
and to what we should turn, and by it the Spirit of 
God conveys his converting grace, or the new nature, 
into our heart. (Mai. ii. 6 ; Rom. x. 17 ; Luke viii. 
11 ; Ps. xvii. 4.) 

HOLINESS AND COMFORT. 

Christians are said to be built up in holiness, because 
the work of sanctification, like a building, is gradually 
carried on toward perfection until death. (Prov. xiv. 
18.) The word builds up Christians in holiness — 1. 
As it is a means to work them into a greater conform- 
ity to the image of God, and to cause an increase of 
every grace in them. (2 Cor. iii. 18 ; 1 Pet. ii. 2.) 2. 
As it reproves, corrects, instructs in righteousness, and 
thereby perfects them more and more, and fits them for 
good works. (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.) 3. As it is a means 
of pulling down strongholds in the soul, and more and 
more subduing all thoughts and affections to the obe- 
dience of Christ. (2 Cor. x. 4, 5.) 4. As it is a means 
to strengthen Christians against the temptations of the 
devil and the corruptions of their own hearts. (Eph. 
vi. 13, 17 ; Matt. iv. 10 ; Ps. cxix. 9.) 5. As it is a 
means to establish Christians in the truths and ways of 
God, and to strengthen them against error and entice- 
ments to sin. (Rom. xvi. 25 ; Eph. iv. 14.) The word 
builds up Christians in comfort, by conveying with 
power to their souls the great and precious promises, 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 267 



which contain all the grounds of real and lasting com- 
fort. (Gal. iii. 29; iv. 28; Eora. xv. 14; Isa. xl. 1, 2; 
1 Johnii. 25; 1 Thess. i. 6.) 

HEADING THE WORD. 

This is the first appointment of the Lord in reference 
to the word, that it may be read by all. (Deut. vi. 7 ; 
xvii. 19; xxxi. 9,11.) The reading of it apart by 
ourselves is necessary for every one, because it is a 
sword for defence (Eph. vi. 17), a lamp for direction 
(Ps. cix. 105) and food for nourishment (Jer. xv. 16) ; 
in all which respects it is necessary for every Christian 
traveling Zionward. (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.) 

PREACHING THE WORD. 

The word of God is to be preached only by such as 
are sufficiently gifted (Mai. ii. 7), and also duly ap- 
proved and called to that office. (Rom. x. 15 ; 1 Tim. 
iv. 14. See also 2 Tim. iv. 2; Rev. ii. 7.) The 
preaching of the word is " especially " made an effectual 
means of convincing, converting and edifying those 
who have it. Inspiration testifies that " faith cometh 
by hearing," and all experience, from the days of the 
apostle who wrote these words to the present hour, 
bears witness to the truth of his declaration. Proba- 
bly a hundred, perhaps a thousand converts, have in 
every age been made by the ear for one that has been 
made by the eye. In the matter of edification the 
proportion may have been less, but it has always been 
great in favor of hearing beyond that of reading. 
(Acts ii. 37; iv. 4; vi. 7 ; xi. 20, 21.) 



268 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



THROUGH FAITH. 

The word is made effectual "through faith." (1 
Thess. ii. 13 ; Rom. i. 16.) Thus it accomplishes the 
end for which sinners are convicted, converted and 
edified — viz. their salvation, complete and eternal. 

INFERENCES. 

1. The enjoyment of the Scriptures, and an able, 
faithful ministry to expound and apply them, is a 
special mercy to any people. (Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20.) 2. 
Man cannot expect special and spiritual blessings from 
God in the willful neglect of the ordinances. (Prov. 
xxviii. 9.) 3. Sad is their condition who will sit all 
their days under the word to no purpose. (2 Cor. iv. 
3, 4.) 4. Christ's ordinances and ministers should be 
most welcome to the people to whom God sends them. 
(Isa. Hi. 7.) 

A certain libertine of the most abandoned character happened 
one day to stroll into a church, where he heard the fifth chap- 
ter of Genesis read, reciting that so long lived such and such 
persons, and yet the conclusion was " they died." Enos lived 
nine hundred and five years, and he died ; Seth nine hundred 
and twelve, and he died ; Methuselah nine hundred and sixty- 
nine, and he died. Tiie frequent repetition of the words " he 
died," notwithstanding the great length of years they had lived, 
struck him so deeply with the thought of death and eternity 
that, through divine grace, he became a most exemplary 
Christian. 

Question 90. — How is the word to be read and 
heard, that it may become effectual to salvation t 

Answer. — That the word may become effectual to 
salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, prep- 



NOTES OIST THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 269 



aration, and prayer ; receive it with faith and love, lay 
it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives. 

What is meant by the word " becoming effectual to 
salvation " ? 

The word of God is said to work effectually, when 
it has that good effect upon us for which it was ap- 
pointed of God — namely, when the word works pow- 
erful illumination and thorough reformation. " To 
open their eyes and turn them from the power of 
Satan unto God." (Acts xxvi. 18.) The opening 
their eyes denotes illumination, and turning them 
from Satan to God denotes reformation. 

ATTEND THEREUNTO. 

As it is from the word of God alone that we can 
learn the way of salvation, it is obviously not too much 
to say that an attention to the word of God should be 
regarded as the principal object of our existence in this 
world, and that we ought to treat it accordingly. How 
few, alas ! do this ! and yet in doing it consists our giv- 
ing that attention to the divine word, the revealed 
truth of God, which our duty demands, which our 
safety requires, and which the answer before us en- 
joins. (Deut. xxxii. 47.) 

DIUIGENCE. 

To attend to the reading and hearing of the word 
is the main business of our life — to have it chiefly at 
heart, because the word contains "that good part 
which shall not be taken away." (Luke x. 42.) By 
attending to the word with "diligence," is meant a 
careful observing and embracing of every seasonable 



270 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



opportunity that may offer in Providence for reading 
and hearing the same. (Prov. viii. 34.) 

PREPARATION. 

We are to make some special preparation for read- 
ing and hearing the word of God if we hope to ex- 
perience its salutary and saving effects, as the human 
mind is so constituted that it cannot readily pass from 
one subject to another of a different character without 
some preparation ; and least of all is it reasonable to 
expect this when the transition is to be made from 
sensible objects to spiritual contemplations. In mak- 
ing this preparation we should meditate on the great- 
ness and goodness of God, the Author of the word, on 
its own excellence, stability and fullness, on the excel- 
lency of Christ, the subject and confirmer of it, and on 
our own vileness, etc. (Ps. xlv. 1.) This will make us 
read and hear the word with faith, love, humility and 
thankfulness. AVe should also examine ourselves con- 
cerning our state and our present condition (Lam. iii. 
40), that we may with knowledge and care apply what- 
ever portions of the word suit our case. (James i. 21.) 

PRATER. 

Prayer is requisite for reading and hearing the word 
in a right manner, because as it is God alone Avho can 
dispose our hearts for the right performance of those 
religious exercises, so he ought always to be addressed 
and supplicated for that end. (Ps. cxix. 18.) AVe 
should pray that what we read or hear may be " the 
power of God unto salvation " (Kom. i. 16), or an ef- 
fectual means in his hand for convincing, converting 
and edifying our souls. (John vi. 63.) 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 271 



TIE A I). 

To be somewhat more particular, in order that the 
word of God may conduce effectually to our salva- 
tion we must — 1. Have a reverent esteem for it. 
This book is to be valued above all other books. It 
is a golden epistle, indited by the Holy Ghost, sent us 
from heaven. 2. Peruse it with intenseness of mind. 
Search the Scriptures. (John v. 39.) The Greek word 
signifies to search as for " a vein of silver." The Be- 
reans "searched the Scriptures daily." (Acts xvii. 11, 
18, 24.) 3. We should delight in it. (Jer. xv. 16 ; Ps. 
cxix. 24, 50.) 

HEARD. 

We must hear the word with a spiritual appetite. 
(1 Pet. ii. 2) ; with earnestness (James i. 19) ; with 
reverence (Neh. viii. 5) ; with care (Luke viii. 18) ; 
with meekness (James i. 21) ; with a holy fear (Isa. 
lxvi. 2) ; not as the word of men, but as the word of 
God. (1 Thess. ii. 13.) 

FAITH AND LOVE. 

The faith required implies in general a believing 
assent to the divine authority of the whole Scriptures. 
(1 Thess. ii. 13 ; 2 Tim. iii. 16 ; 2 Pet. i. 21.) It im- 
plies in particular — 1. A believing assent to the truth 
and excellency of all Scripture history, especially the 
history of our Lord Jesus Christ in his birth, life, 
death, resurrection and ascension. 2. A believing as- 
sent to all Scripture prophecy. 3. A believing assent 
to the truth and excellency of all Scripture doctrine. 
4. A believing assent to the truth and righteousness 
of all Scripture threatenings. 5. A believing assent 



272 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

to the holiness, righteousness and goodness of all 
Scripture precepts. 6. A believing application of 
all Scripture promises. (Heb. iv. 2 ; John iv. 1 ; Pro v. 
xxx. 5.) The love required in reading and hearing 
the word of God is love of the word because it is 
the word of God. (Ps. cxix. 159, 167.) 

I AY IT UP IN OUR HEARTS. 

We must not only be attentive in reading and hear- 
ing, but retentive afterward. (Heb. ii. 1 ; Ps. cxix. 11 ; 
Mark iv. 15.) Our memories should be like the chest 
of the ark where the Law was put. 

PRACTICE IT IK OUR IIVES. 

We must live on the truth which we read and hear. 
(Ps. cxix. 166.) What is a knowing head without a 
fruitful heart ? " Filled with the fruits of righteous- 
ness." (Phil. i. 11.) It is obedience crowns hearing; 
no receiving of the word of God will ever save the 
soul which does not reform the life. (James i. 22 ; 
John xxiii. 17 ; Phil. i. 27 ; Ps. cxix. 105.) 

Some years ago a vessel which was blessed with a pious chap- 
lain, and was bound to a distant part of the world, happened to 
be detained by contrary winds over a Sabbath at the Isle of 
Wight. The chaplain improved the opportunity to preach to 
the inhabitants. His text was, "Be clothed with humility." 
Among his hearers was a thoughtless girl who had come to 
show her fine dress rather than to be instructed. The sermon 
was the means of her conversion. Her name was Elizabeth 
Wallbridge, the celebrated Dairyman's Daughter, whose inter- 
esting history, by the Rev. Legh Richmond, has been printed 
in various languages and widely circulated, to the spiritual 
benefit of thousands. What a reward was this for a single 
sermon preached " out of season " ! 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 273 



A New England clergyman, enforcing on his congregation the 
necessity of practical godliness, and contrasting the early Chris- 
tians with those of the present generation, very properly re- 
marked, " We have too many resolutions and too little action. 
'The Acts of the Apostles' is the title of one of the books of 
the New Testament ; their resolutions have not reached us." 

Question 91. — How do the sacraments become effect- 
ual means of salvation f 

Answer. — The sacraments become effectual means of 
salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that 
doth administer them; but only by the blessing of Christ, 
and the working of his Spirit in them that by faith re- 
ceive them. 

SACRAMENTS. 

The word " sacrament " primarily signifies a solemn 
oath taken by soldiers when they enlist themselves 
under a prince or general. Though this word is not 
found in Scripture, yet the "thing intended by it is, and 
that brings the word into use. (See Kom. iv. 11 ; vi. 3, 
4.) The reason why God has instituted sacraments is 
his condescension to our infirmity. " He knoweth our 
frame ; he remembereth that we are dust." Although 
it is the design of religion to withdraw us from the 
government of our senses, yet since it does not propose 
to make us totally different creatures, and since, from 
our natural constitution, our senses have a powerful 
and necessary influence upon us, he has been pleased 
to render them subservient to the purposes of religion. 
What we hear often awakens very strong emotions in 
our minds, but it is an old remark that the impres- 
sions of the eye are more vivid than those of the ear. 
"If thou wert an incorporeal being," says Chrysostom, 

18 



274 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



" God would have delivered his gifts to thee naked and 
incorporeal ; but since thy soul is connected with a body, 
he has delivered things intellectual by sensible signs." 

By "salvation" is meant our complete and final 
deliverance from sin and misery, both temporal and 
eternal. (Matt. i. 21 ; 1 Thess. i. 10.) "Means" of 
salvation signify any appointments of God whereby he 
promotes and accomplishes his design of saving our 
souls. (Rom. i. 16.) "Effectual" means are such as 
fully obtain and accomplish the end for which they 
were appointed. (1 Thess. ii. 13.) 

NOT FROM A AT VIRTUE IN THEM. 

The meaning of these words is, that the sacraments 
have not, as the Roman Church maintains, any virtue 
or efficacy in themselves, but are only among the out- 
ward and ordinary means of grace, which can have no 
more efficacy of themselves to confer any saving benefit 
than the rainbow, of itself, has to prevent a deluge. 
That this is true is evident from the fact that if the 
sacraments had any innate or intrinsic virtue to confer 
grace or salvation, then grace or salvation would be 
infallibly connected with the external use of them. 
But we find that Simon Magus, after he was bap- 
tized, remained still in the gall of bitterness and bond 
of iniquity (Acts viii. 13, 23) ; and we know that in 
the primitive Corinthian Church a number of those 
who had partaken of the Lord's Supper, so far from 
being placed in a state of salvation by the act, had 
most grievously sinned in that very act, and were vis- 
ited in consequence with temporal judgments to bring 
them to repentance. (See 1 Cor. xi. 27-32.) The gos- 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 275 



pel does not produce its effects ex opere operato, or by 
the mere sound of the words in our ears, but by the 
power of the Spirit opening the understanding and 
heart to receive it. What ground is there for sup- 
posing that the mode of operation is different in the 
sacraments, or that here alone these words are not 
true, " Neither is he that planteth anything, nor he 
that watereth, but God that giveth the increase " ? (1 
Cor. iii. 7. See also Luke xiii. 26 ; 1 Tim. iv. 8 ; 
Eom. ii. 25, 29.) 

OR J* HIM WHO A DM I NIHTERS THEM. 

The Roman Church also maintains that the efficacy 
of the sacraments depends on the will of the priest who 
dispenses them, and is communicated or withheld just 
as he intends or purposes at the time of the adminis- 
tration. But this is an absurd and impious tenet. It 
was never pretended that the intention of the preacher 
is necessary to give efficacy to the word, and it is al- 
together arbitrary to suppose it to be necessary to the 
efficacy of the sacraments. As the latter were insti- 
tuted by God, and not by men, nothing besides his 
blessing can rationally be conceived to be requisite to 
accomplish their design, but the administration of them 
according to the prescribed form. The intention of 
the administrator has as little to do with the effect as 
the intention of the physician has with the success of 
the medicine which he gives to his patient, or the in- 
tention of the husbandman with the fertility of the soil. 
God has not suspended our salvation upon the precari- 
ous volition of other men, over whom we have no power. 
(1 Cor. iii. 5 ; Acts i. 17, 24 ; viii. 13, 23.) 



276 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



ONLY BY THE BLESSING OF CHRIST. 

Having stated on what the efficacy of the sacraments 
does not depend, the answer before us affirms how they 
become effectual means of salvation. (See Matt, xviii. 
20 ; xxviii. 20.) 

WORKING OF THE SPIRIT. 

By the working of the Spirit, the effect and evidence 
of Christ's blessing and presence, Christ puts life and 
virtue and efficacy into his sacraments and ordinances, 
without which they would be wholly dead and alto- 
gether ineffectual. (1 Cor. xii. 13 ; John vi. 63 ; xv. 5.) 

WHO BY FAITH RECEIVE THEM. 

To receive the sacraments by faith is to apply Christ 
and the benefits of his purchase as represented and ex- 
hibited to us in them. (Luke xxii. 19, 20.) The Spirit 
by the sacraments does not work effectually to the sal- 
vation of all that receive them, but of all that by faith 
receive them. (Mark xvi. 16.) 

INFERENCES. 

1. Men enjoying all the ordinances of the gospel 
and partaking of the sacraments annexed to the cove- 
nant of grace may yet perish for ever. (1 Cor. x. 3-5 ; 
Luke xiii. 26, 27.) 2. We should not idolize some 
ministers for the excellency of their gifts, and slight 
others whom, though equally sound and faithful, we 
may deem inferior in outward gifts, seeing it is not in 
any man to make the means effectual. (1 Cor. iii. 7.) 
3. We should cry earnestly for the Spirit and blessing 
of Christ in the sacraments, and beware of resting in 
them. (Sol. Song iv. 16 ; Ps. ci. 2.) 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 277 



A gentleman of intelligence, who was born of Catholic parents 
and educated in the Catholic Church, but left it for Protestant- 
ism, said to his brother, who is still a Catholic, "Why, brother, 
as long as I was a Catholic I never knew that there was a Holy 
Spirit." And what do you think was the brother's reply ? " Well, 
I don't know that there is one now." The narrative of what 
passed between these two men strikes one with great force. A 
religion without a Holy Spirit! and this the religion, according 
to the computation of Bishop England, of two hundred millions 
of mankind ! It made me sorry. My religion, thought I, would 
be very imperfect without a Holy Spirit. I want a Sanctifier as 
well as a Surety. I want one to act internally upon me, as well 
as to act externally for me. What should I do with my title to 
heaven without a, fitness for it? As a sinner I am equally des- 
titute of both. There can be no heaven without holiness. And 
whence has any man holiness but from the Holy Spirit ? And 
is it likely he will act within us when he is not acknowledged ? 
— Rev. Dr. Nevins. 

Question 92. — What is a sacrament f 
Answer. — A sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted 
by Christ, wherein, by sensible signs, Christ and the ben- 
efits of the new covenant are represented, sealed, and 
applied to believers. 

SACRAMENT. 

(For explanation of this term, see notes on Ques- 
tion 91.) 

SOJLT ORDINANCE. 

A sacrament is so called in the answer before us, 
because the elements which compose it have been set 
apart from a common to a sacred use, because it is de- 
signed to promote holiness in those who receive it. and 
because they are, by profession, a holy or peculiar peo- 
ple. (1 Cor. ix. 13; Isa. lii. 11.) 



278 NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



INSTITUTED BY CHRIST. 

It is essentially necessary that a sacrament have 
Christ's express and immediate warrant and institution, 
otherwise it does not deserve the name. (See Matt, 
xxviii. 19, 20 ; 1 Cor. xi. 23, 24.) Why must sacra- 
ments be expressly or immediately instituted by 
Christ? Because he alone is the Head of the Church, 
and has the sole power and authority to institute sac- 
raments and other ordinances in it. (Eph. i. 22, 23.) 

SENSIBLE SIGNS. 

Each sacrament has two parts — 1. The sign. 2. 
The thing signified. (Ex. xxiv. 8 ; 1 Cor. x. 4.) 
By the sign we are to understand that outward thing 
in the sacrament which may be seen, felt or tasted. 
By the thing signified w 7 e are to understand Christ 
and the benefits of the new T covenant. The sign and 
thing signified differ in this respect : the former is 
something natural and sensible, but the latter is spirit- 
ual. Outward signs are of use — 1. To inform our 
understanding. (Gal. iii. 1.) 2. To refresh our memo- 
ries. (Josh. iy. 7.) 3. To stir up our affections. (Zech. 
xii. 10.) -4. To transmit the things of God from gene- 
ration to generation. (Ex. xii. 26.) 

CUIUS I AND THE BENEFITS OF THE NEW COV- 
ENANT. 

By the new covenant is meant the covenant of grace, 
so called because it succeeded to the covenant of works, 
w hich was broken by our first parents when they lost 
their innocence by eating of the fruit of the forbidden 
tree. The uses of a sacrament, in reference to Christ 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 279 

and the benefits of the new covenant, are — 1. To repre- 
sent Christ and the benefits of the new covenant (Gen. 
xvii. 10.) 2. To seal and apply Christ and the bene- 
fits of the new covenant. (Rom. iv. 11.) What is meant 
by the sign's representing Christ and his benefits? 
Its carrying a resemblance of him and his benefits. (1 
Pet. iii. 21 ; 1 Cor. xi. 23-29.) What is meant by the 
sign's sealing Christ and his benefits ? Its confirming 
our interest in Christ and his blessing. (Rom. iv. 11 ; 
1 Pet. iii. 21.) Though our interest in Christ and his 
promise is not thus made firmer in itself, yet the sign 
shows the firmness of it and tends to strengthen our 
faith in Christ and his promise. (See Rom. iv. 11 ; 
John xx. 27.) What is meant by the sacramental 
sign's applying Christ and his benefits ? That by the 
right and lawful use of this sign Christ and his bene- 
fits are really communicated, conveyed and made over 
to the worthy receiver. (1 Cor. xi. 24 ; Gal. iii. 27 ; 
Gen. xvii. 7.) In the use of the sacraments there is 
a present experience and enjoyment of these benefits. 
Probably there are few of the people of God who 
would not be ready to testify that some of their sacra- 
mental seasons have been those in which- their graces 
were in the most delightful exercise, their communion 
with Christ and his people the most sensible, and their 
assured hope and expectation of the heavenly inher- 
itance the most lively, strong and satisfying. Are 
Christ and the benefits of the new covenant separable 
from one another ? No, for " he that hath the Son 
hath life " (1 John v. 12), and whosoever has Christ 
has all things along with him — " all things are yours, 
and ye are Christ's." (1 Cor. iii. 21.) 



280 NOTES ON THE shorter catechism. 



TO BJTL J El JUIS. 

A sacrament represents, seals and applies Christ and 
the benefits of the new covenant — not to all that partake 
thereof, but to believers only, faith being the eye of the 
soul to discern the things represented, and the hand 
of the soul to receive the things sealed and applied in 
the sacrament. 

FHACTICAL LESSONS. 

1. We see that the abuse of such holy and solemn 
mysteries is a sin of dreadful aggravation, and such as 
God will punish. (1 Cor. xi. 27.) 2. We learn the 
tender care and love of Christ over the Church in in- 
stituting such useful and comfortable ordinances for 
us. 

" On Sabbath last/' says a good man, "we were enabled to keep 
our New Testament Passover; it was a good day — a day of 
salvation. At the sacred banquet my hard heart melted and 
the tears flowed plentifully from my eyes, but they were tears 
of joy; my heart was full. On Monday, Mr. B preach- 
ed from these words : 1 And one shall say, I am the Lord's.' 
Oh what a sermon to me ! My heart made the happy claim 
and cheerful surrender again and again. My soul said, I am 
the Lord's, and with my hand I subscribed it, and T hope and 
believe will never unsay it. 

' Sweet was the hour I freedom felt 

To call my Jesus mine — 
To see his smiling face, and melt 
In pleasures all divine.' 

Truly I am thy servant, I am thy servant the son of thine 
handmaid, thou hast loosed my bonds. Why me, O Lord? 
Why me? What am I, or what is my father's house, that 
thou hast brought me hitherto?" 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 281 



Question 93. — Which are the sacraments of the 
New Testament f 

Answer. — The sacraments of the New Testament 
are, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper. 

When the sacraments of the New Testament are 
specially mentioned, there is an implication that there 
were also sacraments under the Old Testament. Such 
is the fact ; and it is a fact to be noticed, because we 
believe that the Christian dispensation was engrafted 
on the Mosaic, both dispensations being equally given 
under the covenant of grace, and the latter being only 
the completing or perfecting of the former. 

SACRAMENTS UNDER THE OID TESTAMENT. 

The ordinary sacraments under the Old Testament 
were two — Circumcision and the Passover. (Gen. xvii. 
24 ; Ex. xii.) 

SUPERSEDED BY CHRISTIAN SACRA3IENTS. 

The sacraments of the Jewish Church have been 
superseded by the Christian sacraments. This is plain 
with respect to the Passover, for immediately after 
the celebration of it the Lord's Supper was instituted, 
and an intimation was thus given that the latter was 
thenceforth to supply the place of the former. Be- 
sides, the apostle Paul obviously refers to the change 
when he describes the new ordinance by terms bor- 
rowed from the old. (See 1 Cor. v. 7, 8.) That bap- 
tism has come in the room of circumcision may be 
inferred from two considerations — that, like circumcis- - 
ion, it signifies our purification from sin, and that it 
is the ordinance by which we are admitted into the 



282 XOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



communion of the visible Church. As Paul connects 
the Passover and the Lord's Supper, so he connects 
circumcision and baptism, leading us to conclude that 
there is a change or substitution in the one case as 
well as in the other. (Col. ii. 11, 12.) 

AGREEMENT OF SACRAMENTS OF THE OLD AND 
NEW TESTAMENTS. 

The sacraments of the Old and New Testaments 
agree in having God for their author, and in the things 
which are signified ; for the sacraments signify, promise 
and offer the same blessings — viz. the forgiveness of 
sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost through Christ 
alone, as the following passages of Scripture prove: 
" Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and to-day and for 
ever." (Heb. xiii. 8 ; 1 Cor. x. 2, 3, 4 ; Col. ii. 11 ; 1 
Cor. v. 7.) Without Christ, who is the thing signified 
in the sacraments of both Testaments, no one ever has 
been saved or can be saved. It follows, therefore, that 
the fathers who lived under the Old Testament had 
the same communion with Christ which we also have, 
and that this was signified no less to them by the word 
and sacraments than it is now to us under the new 
covenant. 

DIFFERENCE OF SACRAMENTS OF THE OLD AND 
NEW TESTAMENTS. 

The sacraments of the Old and New Testaments 
differ mainly in the following particulars : 1. In signi- 
fication. The Old signify Christ who was to come ; the 
New show his death as having already taken place. 
2. In duration. The Old were to continue merely to 
the coming of the Messiah ; the New will continue to 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 283 

the end of the world. 3. In extent of obligation. The 
sacraments of the Old Testament were binding merely 
upon the Jews, for godly persons of other nations were 
not required to be circumcised ; the sacraments of the 
New Testament are binding upon the whole Church, to 
whatever nation they may belong. (Matt. xxvi. 27 ; 
xxviii. 19) 4. In clearness. Those of the Old Testa- 
ment were more obscure, inasmuch as they shadowed 
forth things that were to come; those of the New 
Testament are better understood, because they de- 
clare things which have already come to pass, and 
which have been fulfilled in Christ. 

DIFFERENCE OF CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. 

In what do baptism and the Lord's Supper differ ? 
Baptism seals an entrance into the Church and cove- 
nant of grace, is administered but once, and to infants 
as well as others ; but the Lord's Supper is a seal of 
spiritual nourishment, is to be frequently received, 
and by such only as can examine themselves. 

LAWFUL ADMINISTRATION. 

Who may lawfully dispense the sacraments of the 
New Testament ? Neither of them may be dispensed 
by any but a minister of the word lawfully ordained. 
(1 Cor. iv. 1.) 

What! seven sacraments? How is this? I read in the 
Bible of only two. Whence have they the other five? Oh, 
they came from the other source of Christian doctrine (?) — tra- 
dition. It is true the apostles wrote of only two sacraments ; 
but Catholics would have us believe that they preached and con- 
versed about five others, and those that heard them spoke of 
these sacraments to others, and they to others still ; and so the 



284 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



story passed from lip to lip until the Council of Trent (I be- 
lieve it was) concluded that something had better be written 
about those five extra sacraments. I wonder that was never 
thought of before. It is surprising that it never occurred to 
the apostles, when they were writing their Epistles, to say a 
syllable about these seven sacraments. I may be very hard to 
please, but I cannot help feeling a desire to have Scripture as 
well as unwritten tradition in support of a doctrine or practice 
called Christian. I like to be able to trace a doctrine all the 
way back to the Bible, and to find it originating in the very 
oracles of God themselves. — Rev. Dr. Nevins. 

Question 94. — What is baptism f 

Answer. — Baptism is a sacrament, wherein the ivash- 
ing with water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost, doth signify and seal our ingraft- 
ing into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the cove- 
nant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord's. 

After his resurrection Jesus gave the following com- 
mission to his disciples : " Go ye therefore and teach," 
or make disciples of, " all nations, baptizing them in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever 
I have commanded you : and lo ! I am with you alway, 
even unto the end of the world." (Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.) 
Baptism had been previously administered to those who 
acknowledged him as the Messiah and desired to be ad- 
mitted into the number of his followers — not, however, 
by himself, but by his disciples. (John iv. 1-3.) We 
cannot, therefore, consider the ordinance as new when 
he gave a commission to the apostles prior to his as- 
cension, but it then received a more extensive appli- 
cation, as they were authorized to administer it to men 
of every nation. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 285 
WATER. 

Baptism is performed by the application of water 
to the body. The water is emblematical of the blood 
of Christ. (Rev. i. 5.) It resembles his blood — 1. In 
the freeness of it to all. (Isa. lv. 1.) 2. In its refresh- 
ing quality. (John vi. 35.) 3. In its cleansing prop- 
erty. (Heb. ix. 14.) 4. In the necessity for it, for as 
the body cannot live without water, so neither can the 
soul without Christ's blood. (Heb. ix. 23.) 5. In the 
essential importance of its application. As water neither 
refreshes nor purifies the body without application, so 
neither does Christ's blood refresh or purify the soul 
till applied. (1 Cor. i. 30. See also John i. 31 ; Isa. 
lii. 15; ICor.vi.ll; 1 Pet. iii. 21.) 

WASHING. 

The word baptism signifies washing, dipping or sprink- 
ling. (Mark vii. 4; Heb. ix. 10.) " Dipping of the per- 
son into the water is not necessary, but baptism is 
rightly administered by pouring or sprinkling water 
upon the persons." (^Confession of Faith, chap, xxviii. 
§ 3.) How does it appear from Scripture that baptism 
is rightly administered by pouring or sprinkling water 
upon the person ? From repeated instances of the ad- 
ministration of baptism by the apostles in this man- 
ner, particularly when three thousand were baptized 
by them (Acts ii. 41), water must have been sprinkled 
upon them, as the apostles could not have had time in 
a part only of one day to take them one by one and 
plunge them into it. Nor is it probable that the jailer 
(Acts xvi. 33) had such store of water in the night 
season as was sufficient for himself and Avhole family 
to be dipped into, or that they went abroad in quest 



286 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

of some river for that purpose. It is much more rea- 
sonable to infer that in both the above instances they 
were baptized by sprinkling. The same may be said 
of Paul's baptism (Acts ix. 18) and of the baptism of 
Cornelius and his friends. (Acts x. 47, 48.) 

" When a word is used to denote an action which is 
figurative," says Dr. Dick, " it seems a fair way of de- 
termining its sense to observe how the thing which the 
action represents is in other places expressed. As the 
water in baptism is emblematical of the influences of 
the Spirit, we may bring to the illustration of the term 
to baptize the passages of Scripture which speak of the 
communication of these influences ; and there is not 
one of them which alludes to immersion. The Holy 
Ghost is said ' to fall ' upon men, to be 1 poured out ' 
upon them ; and in reference to the same subject God 
promises ' to sprinkle clean water upon us,' ' to be as 
the dew unto Israel,' and that his grace shall ' come 
down as rain upon the mown grass, and as showers 
which water the earth.' If water is a significant em- 
blem of the Spirit because it purifies, is it not reason- 
able to suppose that a resemblance was intended be- 
tween the application of the water and the manner in 
which the communication of the Spirit is described ? 
It is by no means probable that God should speak of 
his own operations in one way and symbolically repre- 
sent them in a different way — that he should promise 
to sprinkle or pour out his Spirit upon us, and, to con- 
firm this promise, would command us to be plunged 
into water. There would be no analogy in this case 
between the promise and the seal, and the discrepancy 
would give rise to a confusion of ideas." 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 287 



THE NAMM. 

Baptism is to be administered " in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ;" and 
as this is in accordance with the express and particular 
command of Christ himself (Matt, xxviii. 19), it must 
be held as essential to the validity of the ordinance 
that these words of the original institution be used in 
every instance of its administration. The Greek prepo- 
sition eis, which, in the common version of our Bible, 
is in this place renderedin, properly denotes into, and 
is so rendered in many other passages of the New Tes- 
tament. Christians are therefore baptized " into the. 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost." The administration of baptism in this form 
signifies — 1. That we are baptized by the authority of 
the persons of the Holy Trinity. 2. That we are bap- 
tized into the faith and profession of the Holy Trinity. 
3. That we are dedicated to the service of these divine 
persons — that we are engaged to offer religious. worship 
to thein as separately and conjunctly the proper objects 
of it, and to yield unreserved and unintermitted obedi- 
ence to their law as revealed in the Scriptures. (See 1 
Cor. i. 13 ; Eph. iv. 5.) 

■ % 

SIGNIFY AND SEAL 

There is signified and sealed and engaged on God's 
part by our being baptized into his name — (I.) His 
engrafting us into Christ. By this is meant our being 
cut off from our old stock of nature and being joined 
to Jesus Christ, whereby we come to draw virtue from 
him as our root, that we may grow up in him and bring 
forth fruit to him. (John xv. 5; Rom. xi. 17.) (II.) 



288 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



His making us partakers of the benefits of the new cove- 
nant. (Rom.vi. 3.) These benefits are — 1. Admission 
into the visible Church. (Matt, xxviii. 19.) 2. Remis- 
sion of sins by Christ's blood. (Acts ii. 38.) 3. Re- 
generation and sanctification by Christ's Spirit. (Tit. 
iii. 5.) 4. Adoption, together with our union to Christ. 
(Gal. iii. 26, 27.) 5. Resurrection to everlasting life. 
(1 Cor. xv. 29 ; Rom. vi. 4, 5.) 

ENGAGEMENT TO BE THE LORD'S. 

The consequence of its being signified and sealed to 
us in baptism that we partake of such great and glori- 
ous benefits is, that on this account "we enter into an 
open and professed engagement to be wholly and only 
the Lord's." (Larger Catechism, Question 165.) We 
engage to be his wholly in all that we are, soul, spirit 
and body (1 Cor. vi. 19, 20), and in all that we have, 
whether gifts, graces or worldly comforts. (1 Chron. 
xxix. 14.) We engage to be his only, in opposition to 
all his rivals and competitors, every one of whom we 
profess to renounce in baptism. (Hos. xiv. 8.) These 
rivals and competitors with God are sin (Rom. vi. 6), 
Satan (Acts xxvi. 18) and the world. (John xvii. 14.) 

The Rev. Philip Henry, for the use of his children, prepared 
this short form of words, showing what is implied in baptism, 
taught it to his children, required them to repeat it every Sab- 
bath evening after their recitation of the catechism, and was 
wont to add : " So say and so do, and you are made for ever. I 
take God the Father to be my chiefest good and highest end. 
I take God the Son to be my Prince and Saviour. I take God 
the Holy Ghost to be my Sanctifier, Teacher, Comforter and 
Guide. I take the word of God to be my rule in all my ac- 
tions, and the people of God to be my people in all conditions. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 289 

I do likewise devote and dedicate unto the Lord my whole self f 
all I am, all I have and all I can. And this I do deliberately, 
sincerely, freely and for ever." He also took pains with his 
children to lead them into the understanding of it, and to per- 
suade them to a free and cheerful consent to it. And when they 
grew up he made them all write it over severally with their 
own hands, and very solemnly set their names to it ; which he 
told them he would keep by him, and it should be produced as 
a testimony against them in case they should afterward depart 
from God and turn from following after him. 

Question 95. — To whom is baptism to be adminis- 
tered t 

Answer. — Baptism is not to be administered to any 
that are out of the visible church, till they profess their 
faith in Christ, and obedience to him : bid the infants 
of such as are members of the visible church, are to be 
baptized. 

Neither of the two sacraments "may be dispensed 
by any but a minister of the word, lawfully ordained." 
(Confession of Faith, chap, xxvii. § 4. 1 Tim. iv. 14.) 
Why should ministers lawfully ordained, and no other 
persons, dispense the sacraments of the New Testa- 
ment? Because they only are the stewards of the 
mysteries of God (1 Cor. iv. 1), and have the sole 
commission and authority from Christ to preach and 
baptize. (Matt, xxviii. 19.) 

OUT OF THE VISIBLE CHURCH. 

The apostles were sent to teach or make disciples of 
all nations by instructing them in the religion of Christ, 
and when those whom they had addressed, acquired a 
competent measure of knowledge and recognized Jesus 
19 



290 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



Christ as their Lord and Saviour, they were then to bap- 
tize them. (Acts viii. 37.) 

FAITH— OKFDIFNVE. 

To profess faith in Christ is to profess a belief of all 
the doctrines of the Christian religion. (Acts viii. 37.) 
To profess obedience to Christ is to declare a willing- 
ness and purpose to yield subjection to all his com- 
mands, ordinances and institutions. (Acts ii. 46.) 
That a profession which implies a saving reception of 
evangelical truth is to be made by all who receive bap- 
tism in adult age, may be gathered from the command 
to "teach" the recipients of this sacrament — to dis- 
ciple them it is in the original — to observe all things 
whatsoever which Christ delivered to his apostles 
(Matt, xxviii. 19, 20) ; for the injunction here given 
manifestly related to a teaching which should be ef- 
fective, and which appears to be so at the administra- 
tion of the ordinance. 

INFANTS. 

Thus far, the answer relates only to adults, or such 
as are grown up to ripeness of age. Now it proceeds 
to speak of infants, who can make no such profession 
of faith and obedience. It is no objection to the doc- 
trine that the children of believing parents are to be 
baptized in their infancy, that infants cannot under- 
stand the mystery of baptism. Neither could the 
child that was to be circumcised understand circum- 
cision, yet the ordinance of circumcision was not to be 
omitted or deferred. An infant, though it understand 
not the meaning of baptism, yet may partake of the 
blessing of baptism. The little children that Christ 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 291 



took in his arms understood not Christ's meaning, but 
they had Christ's blessing. (Mark x. 16.) That the 
children of believing parents may and should be bap- 
tized in their infancy is evident from many considera- 
tions, among which are the following : I. Infant chil- 
dren, being Abraham's seed, were taken into covenant 
with God and ordered to have the sign of the covenant 
(circumcision) applied to them, and that grant was 
never reversed, Gen. xvii. 10. See also Col. ii. 11, 
12, which shows that baptism now occupies the place 
of circumcision. That the privilege of infants being 
made visible church members was never taken away 
under the gospel is evident — (1) from the words of the 
apostles, " Repent and be baptized, for the promise is 
to you and your children, and to all that are afar off, 
even as many as the Lord our God shall call." (Acts 
ii. 38, 39. See also Eom. xi. 17 ; iv. 11 ; Matt. xix. 
14.) (2.) Because if this privilege were repealed we 
would have some notice of its repeal in the Scripture ; 
but we have no notice or signification of God's will to 
repeal this privilege throughout the whole book of 
God. (3.) Because Christ did not come to take away 
or straiten the privileges of the Church, but to enlarge 
them ; and who can upon Scripture grounds imagine 
that it was the will of Christ that the infants of the 
Jewish Church should be church members, but the in- 
fants of the Christian Church should be shut out like 
heathens and infidels ? II. As children during their 
infancy are capable of grace, they are capable of bap- 
tism. If they can have the thing signified, they should 
have the sign. (Mark x. 14 ; Acts ii. 39 ; x. 47 ; Isa. 
xliv. 3 ; Luke i. 15.) III. As infants may be among 



292 NOTES ON THE SHOETER CATECHISM. 



the number of God's servants, there is no reason 
why they should be shut out of God's family. (Lev. 
xxv. 41, 42.) IV. The children of the faithful, 
though they are not free from original sin, yet as soon 
as they are born have a covenant holiness, and so a 
right and title to baptism, which is the token of the 
covenant. (1 Cor. vii. 14.) V. A sacrament which 
God has instituted to be a solemn rite of initiation 
into the Church, and which is designed to distinguish 
the Church from all the various sects, ought to be ex- 
tended to all, of whatever age they may be, to whom 
the covenant and reception into the Church rightfully 
belong. Baptism is such a sacrament. Therefore it 
ought to be administered to all ages, and as a neces- 
sary consequence to infants also, for to whom the final 
cause belongs, to him the effect is properly and neces- 
sarily attributed. (Josh. xxii. 25 ; Acts iii. 25.) VI. 
The Scriptures mention whole families baptized, as the 
household of Lyclia, Crispus and the jailer (Acts xvi. 
15, 33), in which it is not easy to suppose there were 
no little children. (See Luke ii. 21.) VII. The opin- 
ion of the Fathers and the practice of the Church 
prove infant baptism. It is strongly asserted by Ire- 
nseus, Basil, Lactantius, Cyprian and Austin. Paul 
informs us that he baptized the whole house of Ste- 
phanas. (1 Cor. i. 16.) Origen, who possessed more 
information than any man of his day, and who lived 
near the time of the apostles, says : " The Church re- 
ceived a tradition or order from the apostles to give 
baptism to little children also." Augustine, w T ho was 
born in the middle of the fourth century, affirms: "The 
whole Church practices infant baptism. It was not in- 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 293 



stituted by councils ; it was always in use." Pelagius, 
who lived at the same time, and who had visited the most 
noted churches in Europe, Asia and Africa, declares 
that he never heard of any one, even the most impious 
heretic, who asserted that infants were not to be bap- 
tized. 

"There never was any age, at least since Abraham, in which 
the children, whether of Jews or proselytes, that were admitted 
into covenant, had not some badge or sign of their admission. 
The male children of Abraham's race were entered by circum- 
cision. The whole body of the Jews, men, women and chil- 
dren, were in Moses' time baptized. After which the male 
children of proselytes that were entered with their parents were, 
as well as their parents, admitted by circumcision, baptism and 
a sacrifice. Now, after that circumcision and sacrifice were to 
be abolished under the gospel dispensation, there was nothing 
left but baptism or washing for a sign of the covenant and of 
professing religion. This our Saviour took, probably, as being 
the easiest and the least laborious of all the rest, and as being 
common to both sexes, making no difference of male or female, 
and enjoined it to all xolio should enter into the kingdom of God. 
And St. Paul does plainly intimate to the Colossians (Col. ii. 
11, 12) that it served them instead of circumcision, calling it 
the circumcision of Christ or Christian circumcision." — Wall's 
Hist. Inf. Baptism. 

Question 96. — What is the Lord's Supper f 
Answer. — The Lord's Supper is a sacrament, where- 
in, by giving and receiving bread and wine, according 
to Christ's appointment, his death is showed forth ; and 
the worthy receivers are, not after a, corporal and carnal 
manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body and 
blood, with all his benefits, to their spiritual nourishment, 
and growth in grace. 



294 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



SACRAMENT. 

(For explanation, see notes on Questions 88 and 95.) 

NAMES OF THE SACRAMENT. 

This sacrament is called — I. The Lord's table. (1 
Cor. x. 21.) This name shows with what reverence 
and solemn devotion we should approach to these holy 
mysteries ; the Lord takes notice of the frame of our 
hearts when we come to his table. (Matt. xxii. 11.) 
II. The Lord's Supper. (1 Cor. xi. 20.) This title is 
given to it — (1) because it was instituted immediately 
after eating the Passover (Matt. xxvi. 26), which was 
always at night (Ex. xii. 6, 8) ; (2) because the Lord 
Jesus was the sole Author of it ; and (3) because it is a 
spiritual feast. (1 Cor. xi. 23.) His design in institut- 
ing it on " the same night in which he was betrayed " 
was to show that it was to come in the room of the 
Passover, which was abolished by his death, to manifest 
his great love to his people in giving them such a sol- 
emn pledge of it when entering on his sufferings, and 
to stir us up the more affectionately to remember his 
death therein. III. The communion. (1 Cor. x. 16.) 
This name indicates — (1) that this ordinance is only for 
believers, because none else can have communion with 
Christ in these holy mysteries ; and (2) that this or- 
dinance is a bond of that love and union which should 
be among Christians. (1 Cor. x. 17.) 

GIVING AND RECEIVING BREAD AND WINE. 

Bread is to be used in this sacrament, for Jesus 
" took bread " (Matt. xxvi. 26.) This denotes it to be 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 295 

a strengthening ordinance, for bread strengthens man's 
heart. (Ps. civ. 15.) Wine is to be used in this 
sacrament, for our Saviour " took the cup." (1 Cor. 
xi. 25.) This denotes it to be a refreshing ordinance. 
(See Ps. civ. 15.) The bread and wine signify the 
body and blood of Christ. (1 Cor. xi. 24, 25.) By 
Christ's body and blood are to be understood his incar- 
nation and satisfaction for the complete accomplish- 
ment of our redemption. (John vi. 51.) The breaking 
of the bread is a part of the ceremony, because a part 
of that which is signified — viz. the breaking of the 
body of Christ — answers to it. (1 Cor. xi. 24.) So the 
wine is separated from the bread, to signify the violence 
of his death when his blood was spilt and separated 
from his body. The bread and the wine must be given 
and received. Jesus took bread and " gave it to the dis- 
ciples " — " took the cup and gave it to them." (Matt, 
xxvi. 26, 27.) That the people are to partake not 
only of the bread, but also of the cup, is evident from 
our Lord's words, " Drink ye all of it " (Matt. xxvi. 
27), as well as from the apostle's direction to the Cor- 
inthians. (1 Cor. xi. 26, 28.) The " giving " the bread 
and wine intimates to us that Christ is the free gift of 
God to sinners of mankind for salvation and eternal 
life. (John iii. 16.) The "receiving" the bread and 
the cup imports that our receiving of Christ is founded 
on the gift and grant that is made of him in the word 
(John iii, 27), and the eating a part of the bread and 
drinking a part of the wine imply that there ought 
to be an application of Christ to the soul in particular, 
in virtue of the particular endorsement of the promise 
to every one that hears the gospel. (Acts ii. 39.) 



296 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



HIS DEATH IS SHOWED FORTH. 

The Lord's Supper is a commemorating ordinance. 
(Luke xxii. 19.) It is a confessing ordinance. (1 Cor. 
xi. 26.) It is a memorial of his death, which serves 
not only to perpetuate the knowledge of that event, 
but also to signify in w r hat esteem it is held and what 
importance is attached to it by his followers. It is 
commemorated not merely as the death of a friend and 
benefactor, of a teacher distinguished by his wisdom 
or of a saint illustrious for his virtues, but of a Re- 
deemer who laid down his life as a ransom for our 
souls. 

THE WORTHY RECEIVERS. 

Paul, in rebuking the Corinthian Church (1 Cor. 
xi. 23-34) for a scandalous profanation of this sacred 
institution, twice speaks of eating and drinking " un- 
worthily." The meaning of the apostle in this word 
manifestly is, a manner unsuitable to the nature of the 
ordinance, which in the case of the Corinthians was a 
grossly profane, carnal and irreverent manner. The 
general truth, therefore, taught by the apostle is that 
all who partake in a manner suited to the nature of the 
ordinance, partake ivorthily, and that those w ? ho partake 
in any way or manner not suited to the nature of the 
ordinance, partake unworthily. None are worthy re- 
ceivers of this sacrament but true believers, and they 
are worthy not on account of any worthiness in them- 
selves, for they have nothing of their own of which 
they can boast, but because they are united to Christ, 
and have all that grace from hiin which enables them 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 297 



to partake in a suitable and becoming manner. (2 
Cor. iii. 5.) 

PARTAKERS OF HIS BODY AND BIOOD. 

The participation here meant is not corporal, but 
spiritual, and embraces — 1. Faith in Christ's suffer- 
ings and death. 2. The forgiveness of sins, and the 
gift of eternal life through faith. 3. Our union with 
Christ through the Holy Spirit, who dwells both in 
Christ and in us. 4. The quickening influence of the 
same Spirit. In other words, it is to believe, to obtain 
the remission of sins by faith, to be united with Christ 
and to become partakers of his life, or to be made 
like unto Christ by the Holy Spirit, who works the 
same things both in Christ and in us. (Ps. xvi. 5, 6 ; 
Matt. xxvi. 28, 29 ; John xx. 22 ; Luke xxii. 30.) These 
great blessings are called "His—i. e. Christ's — ben- 
efits," because he is the purchaser (Tit. ii. 14), proprie- 
tor (John iii. 35) and dispenser of them. (Eph. iv. 8.) 

SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT AND GROWTH IN 
GRACE. 

Believers receive spiritual nourishment and growth 
in grace in and by this sacrament — 1. As they draw 
virtue from Christ's death for the crucifying of the 
flesh, for mortifying and purging away sin, which hin- 
ders their spiritual nourishment and growth. 2. As 
the Lord conveys by his Spirit, and they receive in this 
sacrament by faith, further supplies of his grace, which 
by his death he has purchased for them, and which in 
his covenant of grace (of which this sacrament is a 
seal) he has promised to them. (1 Cor. v. 7, 8 ; 2 Pet. 
iii. 8 ; Matt. xxvi. 28.) Spiritual nourishment and 



298 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



growth in grace are indicated by more enlarged views 
after the sincere milk of the word (1 Pet. ii. 2), more 
living by faith and not by sense (2 Cor. v. 7), more 
inward opposition to sin (Ps. lxvi. 18), and outward 
tenderness in deportment (Ps. xxxix. 1.) 

" It is enough for me that my Saviour inclined to this mode 
of being remembered, and expressed such a wish; the least I 
can do is to comply with it. He did not express a great many 
wishes. I cannot help regarding it as unkind that this one 
wish of Jesus should not be complied with ; and especially 
when I consider what a friend he was, what a benefactor. . . . 
All his wishes, I think, should be complied with, but this was 
his last. He was going to suffer, he was to die in a few hours ; 
and such a death too ! and for them for whom he made the re- 
quest that they might never die. ... I wonder these words, 
' broken for you,' do not break the heart of every one who 
refuses." — Rev. Dr. Nevins. 

" Supposing the doctrine of transubstantiation had been de- 
livered in Scripture in the very same words that it is decreed 
in the Council of Trent, by what clearer evidence could any 
man prove to me that such words were in the Bible, than I 
can prove to him that bread and wine after consecration are 
bread and wine still ? He could not but appeal to my eyes to 
prove such words to be in the Bible, and with the same reason 
and justice might I appeal to several of his senses to prove to 
him that the bread and wine after consecration are bread and 
wine still." — Archbishop Tillotson. 

Question 97. — What is required to the worthy re- 
ceiving of the Lord's Supper f 

Answer. — It is required of them that would worthily 
partake of the Lord's Supper, that they examine them- 
selves, of their knowledge to discern the Lord's body, of 
their faith to feed upon him, of their repentance, love } 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 299 



and new obedience ; lest, coming unworthily, they eat 
and drink judgment to themselves. 

WORTHY RECEIVING OF THE LORD'S SUFFER. 

(See on Question 96.) To receive the Lord's Supper 
worthily, is not to receive it meritoriously, as if we were 
to bring auy merit or worth of our own thereto, for so 
none can be worthy of Christ or any of his benefits. 
We receive the Lord's Supper worthily, when we receive 
it with due preparation before we come to it, and with 
suitable behavior when we are at the table of the Lord. 
" We are all unworthy by nature and in ourselves," says 
Ursinus, "but we are made worthy by the grace of 
Christ if we come with faith and a good conscience." 
No one ought therefore to absent himself because of 
his unworthiness, seeing that all who come with faith 
and penitence are counted worthy guests. (Isa. lxvi. 2.) 
The preparation required for the ordinance is habitual 
and actual. By the former is meant that the persons 
who receive it be in a state of grace ; by the latter, that 
their graces be drawn forth into exercise. (Amos iii. 
12; Eph. iv. 24; 2 Chron. xiii. 18; 1 Cor. v. 7; Ps. 
xxvi. 6.) 

EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 

Self-examination is at all times a duty of great im- 
portance, and one in which every Christian ought to 
be much employed. No day should ordinarily pass 
without some attention to it, and no Lord's day should 
go by without attending to it more particularly. But 
in the immediate prospect of the holy communion, un- 
less prevented by uncontrollable circumstances, there 
ought to be a formal, extensive and thorough exam- 



300 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



ination. (1 Cor. xi. 28.) In order to this there must 
be — 1. A solemn retiring of the soul. We should 
withdraw to our closet, that we may be more intent 
in the work. (Num. ix. 13.) 2. We must set up a court 
of conscience, and keep a register there, that by strict 
scrutiny we may see how matters stand between God 
and our soul. (Ps. lxxvii. 6.) 3. We must make the 
Holy Scripture, not fancy or the good opinion of oth- 
ers, the rule or measure by which our self-examination 
is conducted. (Isa. viii. 20 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 5 ; Lam. iii. 40 ; 
1 Cor. xi. 31.) This examination must have respect 
to 

KNOWLEDGE TO DISCERN THE LORD'S BODY. 

There must be some understanding of the person, 
offices and righteousness of Christ, of the fullness, 
freedom and stability of the covenant of grace, of the 
nature, use and end of the sacrament of the Supper, 
and likewise of our manifold sins and wants. Why 
is such a knowledge necessary ? To " discern the Lord's 
body." What is it to discern the Lord's body in this 
sacrament? It is to view the meritorious atonement 
made by the Son of God in our nature through the 
symbols of bread and wine, which are designed to sig- 
nify and represent the same. (1 Cor. xi. 29.) 

FAITH TO FEED I RON HIM. 

" We partake aright," says an able writer of the last 
century, "when we come in faith. Faith has a twofold 
act — an adhering and an applying. By the first act 
we go over to Christ; by the second act we bring 
Christ over to us. (Gal. ii. 20.) Faith is the eagle eye 
that discerns the Lord's body. Faith causes a virtual 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 301 



contact, it touches Christ. Christ said to Mary, " Touch 
me not," etc. (John xx. 17.) She was not to touch 
him with the hands of her body, but he says to us, 
" Touch me — touch me with the hand of your faith." 
Faith makes Christ present to the soul. The believer 
has a real presence in the sacrament. The body of the 
sun is in the firmament, but the light of the sun is in 
the eye. Christ's essence is in heaven, but he is in a 
believer's heart by his light and influence. (Eph. iii. 
17.) Faith is the palate which tastes Christ. (1 Pet. 
ii. 3.) Faith causes the Bread of life to nourish. 
Faith makes us one with Christ. (Eph. i. 23.) Other 
graces make us like Christ ; faith makes us members 
of Christ. (2 Cor. xiii. 5 ; Heb. xi. 6 ; Acts xv. 9 ; 
Phil. iii. 8; Tit. iii. 7.) 

REPENTANCE, LOVE AND NEW OBEDIENCE. 

How may we know that our repentance is true and 
saving ? If our sin is imbittered to us by the views 
of Christ and the love of God — if we seriously repent 
of all known sins and resolve on every known duty. 
(Zech. xii. 10 ; Ps. li. 4.) We may know our love to 
God is true, if we are careful to please him, afraid to 
offend him, and prize his presence in gospel ordinances. 
We may know that our love to Christ as Mediator is 
true, if we love him in all his offices, relations, ordi- 
nances and people, and love him as a pattern of holi- 
ness as well as a purchaser of happiness. (John xiv. 
21.) We may know if our love to the saints is a gra- 
cious love, if we love them all, poor or rich, and even 
though they have injured us and maintain some opin- 
ions different from us, and love them in proportion to 



302 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



' the appearance of Christ's image in them. (Ps. cxix. 
63.) We may know if our obedience is of a gracious 
nature, if we habitually study obedience to all the com- 
mands of God, and depend on Christ, as our only right- 
eousness and strength, for assistance in our obedience 
and acceptance of it. (Isa. xlv. 24 ; 1 Cor. v. 8.) 

LEST COMIXG JJX1VORTHILT. 

The sin of unworthily receiving the Lord's Supper is, 
that such are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord 
— that is, they are guilty of an affront and indignity 
which they offer to the Lord's body and blood. (1 Cor. 
xi. 27.) The danger of our unworthily receiving the 
Lord's Supper is the eating and drinking judgment to 
ourselves — that is, provoking the Lord by our unwor- 
thy receiving, to inflict temporal, spiritual and eternal 
judgments upon us. (1 Cor. xi. 29, 30.) 

What is the duty of worthy receivers after the sacra- 
ment ? Heartily to bless God for Christ and the bene- 
fits of his blood (Matt. xvvi. 30) ; to double their 
care and watchfulness agaiust sin (Eph. iv. 30) ; to 
&TOW more fruitful in all spiritual obedience. (Col. i. 
10.) 

" I do not go to the Lord's table to give, but to receive — not 
to tell Christ how good / am, but to think how good he is. The 
words are, 'Do this in remembrance of me,' as if the Saviour 
said, - Remember who I am and what thou art ; remember me 
as thy Saviour, as thy Master ; remember my love and thy obli- 
gations ; remember me as hating thy sin, as bearing thy sin ; 
remember me and fear not ; remember me and sin not ; re- 
member me to live for me, by me, with me.' " — Rev. Thomas 
Adam. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 303 



Question 98. — Wliat is prayer f 

Answer. — Prayer is an offering up of our desires 
unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name 
of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful ac- 
knowledgment of his mercies. 

It is natural for man to pray. The child of God 
learns it as soon as he learns to speak. The child does 
not first require instruction concerning prayer. He em- 
ploys it as a practice that is self-understood, and soon be- 
comes an admonisher to us concerning this duty. The 
eternal world of God to which prayer ascends is to 
him a well-known home, and it may almost be said his 
first and dearest words are the words of prayer. And 
when the old man of many years can scarcely any longer 
collect the thoughts of his spirit which refer to the things 
of this world, and they are confused or have altogether 
vanished, yet the word of prayer remains in his heart 
and comes forth from his lips ; the prayer of his youth 
is that which is last forgotten. 

It is sometimes objected that prayer cannot possibly 
have any influence in obtaining what we need and re- 
quest from God, because all his purposes are fixed and 
immutable. To this it may be replied that what the 
Scriptures teach in regard to the direct influence of 
prayer in obtaining what it seeks from God, is just as 
reasonable as, and no more difficult to be understood 
than, that ploughing and sowing should have an im- 
mediate and indispensable influence in the production 
of a crop. In both cases the divine purpose is equally 
certain, and in both the influence of means or second- 
ary causes is precisely the same. (Luke xviii. 1 ; Ps. 
xxxii. 6 ; 1 Thess. v. 17 ; Matt. vi. 6.) 



304 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

AN offering tip of ottr desires. 
Our petitions are called our desires, because the words 
of our mouth, without the desires of our heart, are noth- 
ing but empty sounds in the ears of God. (Isa. xxix. 13.) 
Our desires flow from a sense of need. We cannot have 
any earnest desire after that with the want of which we 
are no way affected, for " the full soul loatheth a honey- 
comb." (Prov. xxvii. 7.) 

TTNTO GOD. 

Prayer is not to be made to any but God. The pa- 
pists pray to saints and angels, but they know not our 
grievances. "Abraham be ignorant of us." (Isa. lxiii. 
16.) And all angel-worship is forbidden. (Col. ii. 18, 
19.) God only knows the hearts of all the children 
of men. (1 Kings viii. 30.) God only hears prayer. 
(Ps. lxv. 2 ; 1 Kings xviii. 37.) God only can help. 
02 Kings vi. 26, 27 ; Matt. iv. 10 ; Ps. xxxiv. 15 ; cxlv. 
18, 19.) 

FOR THINGS AGREEABLE TO HIS Will 

We may not pray for the fulfilling of any sinful de- 
sires. (James iv. 3.) We may and ought to pray to 
God only for such things as are agreeable to his will. 
What are the things agreeable to God's will for which 
we may pray? All things which are agreeable to God's 
revealed will in his word, such as the pardon of our 
sins, the supplies of his grace, spiritual life and strength 
here, eternal life and glory hereafter, deliverance from 
spiritual and eternal evils ; also whatever temporal good 
things of which we stand in need, and all those things 
which either expressly or inclusively he has promised 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 305 



in his covenant to us. (1 John v. 14; Heb. iv. 16 ; Ps. 
cxix. 49, 81.) 

IN THE NAME OF CHRIST. 

Our prayers are to be directed to God only through 
Christ and in his. name, for the merit and satisfaction 
of Christ alone give success and acceptance to our 
prayers. It was in this way that Daniel prayed and 
asked to be heard for the Lord's sake. (Dan. ix. 17.) 
Christ also commands us to pray to the Father in his 
name. (John xiv. 13.) Our prayers must be placed 
upon our altar, even Christ, so shall they be accept- 
able to God. (Heb. x. 19; Bev. viii. 4; 1 Tim. ii. 5.) 

WITH CONFESSION OF OUR SINS. 

Confession of sin is another important part of prayer. 
In standing as parties with God it is indispensable that 
we should distinctly recognize our true character ; and 
as we are sinners, the full and free admission of this 
humiliating fact should make a part of all our pray- 
ers. We should confess all our sins, with the several 
aggravations of them. (Ps. xxxii. and li.) This we 
should do to testify our belief of God's holiness and 
omniscience, and to affect our hearts with a sense of 
our vileness and unworthiness before him. (Dan. ix. 
3-19 ; Ps. xxv. 11.) The confession of our sins is to 
be made in an humble and affectionate manner, with 
faith's views of a crucified Christ as the propitiation 
for them. It should also be made with grief and 
hatred of our sins (Luke xviii. 13), and with full 
purpose, in the strength of grace, to forsake them. 
(Job xxxiv. 32.) 

20 



306 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



THANKFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF HIS MERCIES. 

The third part of prayer is thankful . acknowledg- 
ment of God's mercies, temporal and spiritual, here, 
and the promises of life and happiness in the other 
world, which we ought to acknowledge with admira- 
tion, faith, love, joy and every kind of suitable auc- 
tions. Thanksgiving in prayer is necessary as an 
acknowledgment of the goodness of God and to stir 
up our heart to love him. (Ps. e. 4 ; cxvi. 17 ; Phil, 
iv. 6.) 

We must be constant in prayer. (Ps. cix. 4.) Hum- 
ble in prayer. (Gen. xviii. 27.) Earnest in prayer. 
(Col. iv. 12.) Sincere in prayer. (Heb. x. 22.) Chari- 
table. (1 Tim. ii. 8.) God will hear and accept those 
who thus pray to him. (Isa. xlv. 19.) But the love of 
sin will prevent the success of prayer. (Ps. lxvi. 18.) 

In the life of Philip Henry it is said " he and his wife con- 
stantly prayed together, morning and evening." He made con- 
science of closet-worship, and abounded in it. It was the caution 
and advice which he frequently gave to his children and friends, 
" Be sure you look to your secret duty. Keep that up, whatever 
you do. The soul cannot prosper in the neglect of it. Apostasy 
generally begins at the closet-door." 

Two young men, members of a family the greater number of 
which was devoted to God, left the house of their widowed mother 
to reside in a distant State. After a little while they imbibed 
exceedingly erroneous views of religion, and were thus exposed 
to the utmost danger. Their sisters heard of their errors, and 
resolved to seek their deliverance from them by earnest prayer. 
They agreed separately to spend half an hour at sunset every 
Saturday evening in fervent supplication for their brothers. 
The Hearer of prayer was not unmindful of their requests. 
The two brothers were awakened to a sense of their danger, 
and hopefully converted to God. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 307 



Question 99. — What rule hath God given for our 
direction in prayer f 

Answer. — The whole word of God is of use to direct 
us in prayer ; but the special rule of direction is that 
form of prayer, which Christ taught his disciples, com- 
monly called, The Lord's Prayer. 

DIRECTION IN PRA YER. 

Why do we need direction in prayer ? Because man 
is naturally a stranger both to God and himself, being 
ignorant both of the glorious perfections of God (Rom. 
iii. 11) and of his own sins and wants. (Rev. iii. 17 ; 
Rom. viii. 26.) 

The " whole word of God " is generally useful for 
our direction in prayer, as it contains plenty of mat- 
ter for prayer, guides us to the manner of it, and 
abounds with a variety of expressions which most fitly 
may be used in it. It directs us — 1. By its prayers. 
They show us to whom, for what, and for whom and 
in what manner we should pray. (Dan. ix. 14; 1 
Kings viii.) 2. By its threatenings and histories of 
God's judgments. They show us what sins we ought 
to confess, and what evils we should pray to have pre- 
vented or removed. 3. By God's merciful providences. 
They encourage us to prayer, and show us what good 
things God is ready to bestow. 4. By its doctrines. 
They show us what God is and is disposed to do, what 
we are and need, and in what manner we may come 
to God for the supply of our wants. 5. By its precepts. 
They show us what sins we ought to confess and from 
what sins to seek deliverance, what graces we should 
desire and what duties we need strength to perform. 



\ 



308 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



6. By its promises. They show us the various condi- 
tions we may be in, and what blessings God has en- 
gaged and is ready to give us. 

SPECIAL UTILE. 

The " form of prayer " here referred to is in Mat- 
thew (vi. 9) prefaced with the words, " After this man- 
ner therefore pray ye," or, as the original word may be 
more simply rendered, " thus ;" and in Luke (xi. 2), 
" When ye pray, say." Evidently it was not our Lord's 
meaning that we should use this prayer exclusively, 
for the second form of it (in Luke) varies considerably 
from that in Matthew. It was intended as a model 
rather than a mould. Highly appropriate as it is both 
in public and private devotion, it was never intended 
to confine within the limits of its few sentences the free 
spirit of prayer. It was given rather as a specimen, by 
the spirit and order of whose several parts we should 
guide our own spontaneous petitions, than as a rigid 
and imperishable enclosure in which all our pious ac- 
knowledgments and supplications should be compress- 
ed. It was intended not so much as a sacred formulary, 
as for divine instruction as to what petitions are univer- 
sally good, universally necessary, universally acceptable, 
as well as to inculcate simplicity and brevity in the ex- 
pression. The example of our Lord himself, of the 
apostles of the Church in all ages, shows how full 
and varied are the utterances of the human heart when 
it breathes itself out unrestrainedly unto Gocl in prayer. 
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 

A D M IRAJt L ENESS OF THE LORD'S PRATER. 

From its delivery to the present hour this prayer^ 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 309 

has excited the admiration of the wise and good 
throughout the world, and down through all these 
centuries it has been the single golden link running 
through the ages, that has bound together in one the 
whole vast company of the prayerful. Even the 
stupid infidel and the shallow scoffer have not failed to 
perceive its beauty, sublimity and comprehensiveness. 
It is little in words, but great in substance ; so short 
that the weakest memory may retain it, and yet so full 
that it comprehends all things which relate to ourselves 
or others, to our bodies or souls, to time or eternity ; 
proper for all exigencies and occasions — as w T ell for the 
last ages of Christianity as the first — as well for the 
private devotions of the closet as the public service of 
the temple, including every part of religious worship, 
supplication and intercesssion, confession and depreca- 
tion, resignation and thanksgiving ; adapted to all 
periods of life, to all kinds of character, to all coun- 
tries and capacities, and suited to all conditions — equal- 
ly proper for high and low, rich and poor. The child 
may lisp its simple sentences as soon as it knows how 
to pray ; it comes with no less fitness from the wrink- 
led lips of age. It may be taken up and used alike 
by the penitent in the first hour of his return to God, 
the struggler in the thick of the spiritual conflict, 
and the believer in the highest soarings of his faith 
and love. The youngest, the oldest, the simplest, 
the wisest, the most sin-stained, the most saintly, 
can find nothing here- unsuitable, unreasonable. 
It gathers up into one what they all can and should 
unite in saying as they bend in supplication before 
God. 



310 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



In a certain town there had been no revival for many years ; 
the church was nearly run out, the youth were all unconvert- 
ed, and desolation reigned unbroken. There lived in a retired 
part of the town an aged man, a blacksmith by trade, and of 
so stammering a tongue that it was painful to hear him speak. 
On one Friday, as he was at work in his shop alone, his mind 
became greatly exercised about the state of the church and of 
the impenitent. His agony became so great that he was in- 
duced to lay aside his work, lock the shop-door and spend the 
afternoon in prayer. 

He prevailed, and on the Sabbath called on the minister and 
desired him to appoint a conference-meeting. After some 
hesitation the minister consented, observing, however, that he 
feared but few would attend. He appointed it the same even- 
ing at a large private house. When evening came more 
assembled than could be accommodated in the house. All 
were silent for a time, until one sinner broke out in tears and 
said if any one could pray he begged him to pray for him. 
Another followed and another, and still another, until it was 
found that persons from every quarter of the town were under 
deep convictions. And what was remarkable was, that they 
all dated their conviction at the hour when the old man was 
praying in his shop. A powerful revival followed. Thus this 
old stammering man prevailed, and as a prince had power 
with God. — Rev. Charles O. Finney. 

Question 100. — What doth the preface of the Lord's 
Prayer teach us f 

Answer. — The preface of the Lord's Prayer, which 
is, " Our Father, ivhich art in heaven," teacheth us to draw 
near to God, with all holy reverence and confidence, as 
children to a father, able and ready to help us; and 
that we should pray with and for others. 

The Lord's Prayer consists of three parts — 1. A 
preface. 2. Petitions. 3. The conclusion. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 311 



OUR FATHER, WHICH ART IN HEAVEN, 

Prayer cannot begin in a more beautiful or more 
lovely way than with these words and this address 
to God, Father! This is the most beautiful name 
that men can give to God ; it is the true name by 
which the children of God call their Father; it is 
the name of a child's simplicity as well as the name 
of the highest knowledge of the divine nature. For 
to learn to know God aright means simply to learn 
to know him as our Father, This is the knowledge 
which we owe to Christ. My Father, your Father. 
For we call him so not merely because God is the 
Father of all men, by being Creator and Preserver 
of all, but we call him Father as in Christ he has 
become our Father, while we in Christ have become 
his children. (Gal. iv. 6 ; Luke xv. 18 ; Hos. xiv. 
13.) 

We have here grouped together the three principles 
which settle man's just relations to this and to the 
next world: 1. The filial. We see in the Most High 
a Father. (Acts xvii. 28 ; Col. i. 20-22 ; John i. 12.) 
This representation of God as a Father of those who 
worship him, teaches us that he stands in a relation 
toward them similar to that in which a father stands 
to his children, and that he regards them in a manner 
similar to that in which a father regards and acts to- 
ward his children — really loving them and disposed 
to bestow on them everything that is necessary to their 
true happiness. 2. The fraternal. We come not with 
our private needs and vows alone, but with those of 
our race and household. Our Father. The renewal 
of the parental reknits the fraternal tie. Believers 



312 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



in all their prayers should think of others as well as 
themselves. Though we go alone into the closet, we 
are not accepted there if we go in selfishness and isola- 
tion. (Acts xii. 12 ; Eph. vi. 18.) 3. The celestial t 
Though we are now of the earth and attached to it 
by these mortal and terrene bodies, we are not origin- 
ally from it, nor were we made to be eternally upon it. 
We are of heaven and for heaven, for there and not 
here our Father is, and where he is our true home is. 
(Isa. lxiii. 16; Jer. iii. 4; Mai. ii. 10; Deut. xxxii. 6 ; 
2 Cor. vi. 18.) 

The term " heaven " in the answer signifies the abode 
or habitation of God, of the holy angels and blessed 
men. (Isa. lxvi. 1 ; John xiv. 2.) God is indeed 
everywhere by his immensity, but he is said to exist 
and dwell in heaven, because he is there more glorious 
than in the world, and there manifests himself imme- 
diately. (Ps. xi. 4.) There must be a region of the 
universe in which God confers their full reward upon 
his holy creatures, and he is said to be in it because he 
there gives the highest manifestations of his goodness 
and glory. As it is a natural thought that this place 
is elevated above this terrestrial and the visible crea- 
tion, we point upward when we are speaking of the 
habitation of the Divinity, as our Saviour lifted up his 
eyes when he prayed, acting on that occasion under 
the influence of the ideas and feelings of a man. (1 
Cor. ii. 9 ; Kev. vii. 16, 17 ; 1 Pet. i. 4 ; 2 Cor. v. 1.) 
It is the presence of God that makes heaven. 

EEVEBENCE AND CONFIDENCE. 

The representation of God as " in heaven " teaches 



NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 313 

us to approach him with confidence, because if he is 
our Father, and is possessed of infinite goodness, 
which he especially displays in heaven, then he will 
also give us all things necessary for our salvation. If 
this our Father be also Lord in heaven and possessed 
of infinite power, so that he can help us in our need, 
then he can also easily grant unto us what we ask at 
his hands. (Luke xi. 13 ; Ps. lxxxiv. 11 ; Phil. ii. 13.) 
This representation of God also teaches us to draw 
near to him with reverence. For since our Father is 
so great a Lord — even one that is heavenly, who rules 
everywhere and has power to cast both soul and body 
into hell — we ought to reverence him and come into 
his presence with the greatest humiliation of soul and 
body. By the words " Our Father " we express God's 
nearness to us ; by the phrase " in heaven," his distance 
from us. (See Eccles. v. 2 ; Isa. lxvi. 1.) By the latter 
we learn God's ability to help us ; by the former, his 
willingness to do so. Holy, loving familiarity suggests 
the one, awful reverence the other. The whole address 
tends to produce the right disposition of prayer, the 
mixture of joy and fear, confidence and reverence. 
(Ps. ii. 11; Eph. iii. 12; John x. 29; Matt. vi. 32; 
John xvi. 27.) 

JPRAT WITH AJYD FOB OTHEHS. 

Here, as already hinted, is another lesson which the 
words " Our Father " teach us. What is it to pray 
"with" others? To be the mouth of others to God, 
or to join with them in family or social worship. 
What is it to pray "for" others? To express our 
concern about them, or our sympathy with them, before 



314 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



God as sincerely and ingenuously as we would do with 
reference to ourselves were we in the same circum- 
stances. (Ps. xxxv. 13.) Who are these "others" for 
whom we should pray ? Not only Christians, but all 
men ; we must pray not only for the Church in gene- 
ral, but also for the nation wherein we live, for magis- 
trates and for ministers ; and not only for our friends, 
but also for our enemies, for the race to which we be- 
long. (Ps. cxxii. 6; 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2; Matt. v. 44: Eph. 
vi. 18.) 

One of the members of Christ's flock was reduced to great 
poverty in his helpless old age, and yet he never murmured. 
A kind-hearted neighbor who met him on the road said to him, 
" You must be badly off ; I cannot tell how you maintain your- 
self and your wife, and yet you are always cheerful." "Oh, 
not so," replied the old Christian ; " we are not badly off ; we 
have a rich Father, who does not suffer us to want." " Your 
father not dead yet ! he must be very old indeed." " My 
Father never dies, and he always takes care of me." That 
aged Christian was a daily pensioner on the providence of his 
merciful and covenant-keeping God. 

" Some impressions," says a young man, afterward a mission- 
ary to the heathen, " of the importance and necessity of true 
religion were made upon my mind at a very early period. The 
first particular one that I recollect was, I think, when I was 
about five years of age. There happened one day a very vio- 
lent storm of thunder and lightning in our neighborhood, on 
which occasion a few Christian friends who lived near us, ter- 
rified by its violence, came into my father's house. When un- 
der his roof in a moment there came a most vivid flash, fol- 
lowed by a dreadful peal of thunder, which much alarmed the 
whole company except my father, who, turning toward my 
mother and our friends, with the greatest composure repeated 
these words of Dr. Watts : 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 315 



" ' The God that rules on high, 

And thunders when he please, 
That rides upon the stormy sky, 

And manages the seas — 
This awful God is ours, 

Our Father and our love,' etc. 

These words, accompanied with such circumstances, sank 
deep into my heart. I thought, How safe and happy are those 
who have the great God for their Father and Friend ! but being 
conscious that I had sinned against him, I was afraid he was 
not my Father, and that, instead of loving me, he was angry 
with me; and this, for some time after, continued to distress 
and grieve my mind." He then proceeds to say that these 
early impressions were succeeded by others occasioned by pa- 
rental admonitions, the death of a sister, the conversation of 
pious friends and the reading of useful books, which termi- 
nated in his conversion. 

Question 101. — What do we pray for in the first 
petition f 

Answer. — In the first petition, which is, " Sallowed 
be thy name," we pray, that God would enable us, and 
others, to glorify him in all that whereby he maketh 
himself known, and that he would dispose all things to 
his own glory. 

" But holiest rite or longest prayer 

That soul can yield or wisdom frame, 
What better import can it bear 

Than 'Father, hallowed be thy name'?" 

This is the first petition we address to God. We 
pray first not for ourselves, but for him and his honor 
— that to him there may be the honor which is due. 

When the blessed spirits bow themselves before him 



316 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

and praise him, they say, " Holy, holy, holy, Lord God 
Almighty!" That is the cry of the heavenly hosts 
that stand about his throne. And all creatures give 
honor to Him who has created and rules them. And 
when we men draw near his throne to pray, we should 
bow our faces before him, and all our thoughts should 
incline to him, and say, Holy, That is the first word 
of petition that we send up to Him that is enthroned on 
high — Holy. To Him to whom all honor in heaven and 
earth belongs our souls and our lives should also give 
honor. For not only our thoughts should be a prayer, 
but our lives, our whole lives, should be prayers. 

Til /; NAME OF GOD. 

The name of God signifies — 1. God himself. (Ps. v. 
11 ; ix. 2, 10 ; cxvi. 13 ; 1 Kings v. 5.) 2. The attrib- 
utes and works of God. (Ex. xvi. 3; xxxiv. 14.) 3. 
The command, will and authority of God. (1 Sam. xvii. 
45 ; Matt, xxviii. 19.) 4. The ivorship, trust, praise 
and profession of God. (Acts ii. 38 ; xxi. 13.) 

HALLOWED. 

The word " hallowed " is nearly synonymous with 
" sanctified " or " glorified." God's name may be hal- 
lowed by us in three ways : 1. In our hearts, by enter- 
taining suitable conceptions of him. 2. By our lips, 
when we acknowledge his divine perfections and tell 
of all his wondrous works. 3. In our lives, when the 
consideration of these divine perfections engages us to 
suitable obedience. This petition forbids cursing and 
swearing, perjury and blasphemy. It forbids all lip- 
service, all hypocritical genuflexions, all mummeries 
of worship where the heart is not engaged. In pre- 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 317 



sentiDg this petition we pray that we may be enabled 
to glorify God. (Ps. li. 15 ; cxix. 175 ; cxlii. 7 ; Matt, 
v. 16.) 

OTHERS. 

When we pray that God w r ould enable "others" to 
glorify him as well as ourselves, we in effect pray that 
all atheism, infidelity, idolatry, impiety, superstition, 
ignorance and false religion may be banished from the 
world, and that the only living and true God may be 
worshiped and honored all over the earth, and by 
every intelligent creature. (Isa. xi. 9 ; xxiv. 16 ; Ps. 
lxvii. 1-3.) This, in fact, is the very petition which 
the Lord Jesus himself put up on another occasion. 
(John xii. 28 ; Ps. lxxvii. 2, 3 ; 2 Thess. iii. 1 ; Phil, 
i. 11; Isa. lxi. 3.) 

DISPOSE A-TjTj THINGS TO HIS s OWN GLORY. 

God disposes all things to his own glory, by bringing 
a revenue of glory to himself even out of those things 
that seem most opposite to it. For example, he does 
so in relation to the persecution of believers, by over- 
ruling them to the furtherance of the gospel (Acts xi. 
19-21), and in relation to the falls of believers, by 
overruling them in such a manner as that they are 
■ made more humble, watchful and circumspect for the 
future. (Ps. li. 3; lxxvi. 10.) 

PLACE THE PETITION OCCUPIES. 

" This petition," says an old writer, " is placed first, 
to show that the hallowing of God's name is to be pre- 
ferred before all things. It is to be preferred before 
life, for we are to pray for it before we ask for ' daily 
bread.' It is to be preferred before salvation, for 



318 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

God's glory is worth more than the salvation of 
men's souls. The time will come when some of the 
other petitions will be useless and out of date ; we 
shall not then need to ask for bread, because there 
shall be no hunger ; nor for forgiveness, because there 
shall be no sin ; nor to be kept from temptation, because 
there is no old serpent there to tempt ; yet the hallow- 
ing of God's name shall be of great use aud request in 
heaven. We shall there be ever singing hallelujahs, 
which is nothing else but the hallowing of God's name. 
Every person in the blessed Trinity — God the Father, 
Son and Holy Ghost — must have this honor to be hal- 
lowed, their glory being equal and their majesty co- 
eternal." 

Among the dying sayings of the heavenly-minded David 
Brainerd, President Edwards has recorded the following : 
" My heaven is to please God, and to glorify him, and give all 
to him, and to be wholly devoted to his glory ; that is my re- 
ligion and that is my happiness, and always was ever since I 
supposed I had any true religion ; and all those tliat are of that 
religion shall meet me in heaven. I do not go to heaven to 
be advanced, but to give honor to God. It is no matter where 
I shall be stationed in heaven, whether I have a high or a low 
seat there, but to love and please and glorify God is all." 

Question 102. — What do we pray for in the second 

petition f 

Answer. — In the second petition, which is, " Thy king- 
dom come," we pray, that Satan's kingdom may be de- 
stroyed, arid that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, 
ourselves and others brought into it, and kept in it, and 
that the kingdom of glory may be hastened. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 319 



THY KINGDOM 

" God's kingdom," says an eminent divine, " is the 
government in which he rules as King." Where is 
this kingdom? 

He rules over heaven and earth, and his power ab- 
solutely embraces all space and all time. But higher 
than this kingdom of power is his kingdom of grace, 
in which his love rules and his eternal counsel con- 
cerning the redemption and salvation of men fulfills it- 
self. This kingdom is God's eternal and first thought, 
for this kingdom is the goal of all his ways. For he 
has willed and created the world only because he has 
willed this kingdom of salvation, and the entire his- 
tory of his revelation is the progressive realization of 
this kingdom. But in Jesus Christ it has also come to 
earth, and has diffused itself through the word of the 
gospel. It does not spring from the earth, and is not 
established by earthly means. Its foundation lies in 
the heart of eternal grace, and its power is the Holy 
Ghost and his word. The kingdoms of outward form 
indeed appear to leave no space for it on earth, for 
they have divided the whole world between them, and 
he who has an eye only for that which the senses ob- 
serve, sees nothing of it, for it is a kingdom of the 
Spirit. But high above all earthly kingdoms this king- 
dom soars, and deeper than all others are its founda- 
tions planted. Hence, where no earthly force reaches 
its power extends — namely, in the hearts of men — and 
when the time of the kingdoms of the world has come 
to an end, the time of the kingdom of God will only 
rightly begin. 



320 NOTES ON THE SHOETEE CATECHISM. 



WHAT THE PETITION IMPLIES. 

This petition implies an earnest desire that the king- 
dom of God may be set up in our own hearts (Luke 
xvii. 21), reducing all within us to subjection to Christ, 
our King ; that it may be set up in the hearts of our 
children, relatives, servants, friends, neighbors ; that the 
word of the kingdom may in all nations be " preached 
with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven ;" that 
Christian churches may be established in every region 
of our earth, and that " the kingdoms of this world " may 
become " the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ 
that every opposing power may be put down, and God 
be all in all. The final setting up of this kingdom has 
been long predicted. (Gen. iii. 15 ; Rom. viii. 21, 22 ; 
Rev. xi. 15; xxii. 20. See also Jer. xxxi. 8 ; 2 Thess. 
ii. 17 ; Phil. i. 9 ; Ps. xliii. 3 ; 1 Thess. v. 23 ; John 
xvii. 21 ; Matt. ix. 38.) 

BROUGHT INTO IT AND KEPT IN IT. 

How are persons brought into God's invisible king- 
dom of grace? By regeneration, justification and adop- 
tion. (Col. i. 12, 13 ; Acts xxvi. See on Questions 31, 
33, 34.) How are they kept in it? By sanctification, 
assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in 
the Holy Ghost, increase of grace and perseverance 
therein to the end. (See on Questions 35, 36.) Why 
need believers pray for the coming of God's kingdom 
of grace with respect to themselves when they are al- 
ready in it ? They need to pray that it would come to 
them more and more. (Phil. iii. 9-14.) Are not Chris- 
tians " kept by the power of God, through faith unto 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 321 



salvation " ? (1 Pet. i. 5.) Why, then, should they pray 
to be. kept in it ? Because perseverance, being a prom- 
ised privilege, should on that account be prayed for. 
(Ps. cxix. 28.) 

THE KINGDOM OE GLORY HASTENED. 

We request in our praying that the kingdom of God's 
glory may come — that this kingdom of glory may be 
hastened, which will appear and be manifested to the 
whole world at the second coming and appearance of 
the Lord Jesus to judgment. (Rev. x. 7 ; 2 Pet. iii. 12 ; 
2 Cor. v. 2 ; Luke ii. 29 ; Rev. xxii. 20.) 

In his account of his views and feelings soon after he received 
the hope of salvation, President Edwards says : " I had a great 
longing for the advancement of Christ's kingdom in the world. 
My secret prayer used to be in great part taken up in praying 
for it. If I heard the least hint of anything that happened in 
any part of the world, that appeared to me in some respect or 
other to have a favorable aspect on the interest of Christ's king- 
dom, my soul eagerly catch ed at it, and it would much animate 
and refresh me. I used to be earnest to read public news-letters 
mainly for that end, to see if I could find some news favorable 
to the interests of religion in the world." " He regarded," says 
the Puritan, " the history of this world as the history of redemp- 
tion. Every event furnished him with an occasion of thanks- 
giving or of prayer." 

Question 103. — What do we pray for in the third 
petition t 

Answer. — In the third petition, which is, " Thy will 
be done in earth, as it is in heaven" we pray, that God, 
by his grace, would make us able and willing to know, 
obey, and submit to his will in all things, as the angels 
do in heaven. 

21 



322 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



THY WILL. 

God's will may be considered either as preceptive or 
providential. To the former reference is here made, 
for God's providential will is done in earth equally as 
in heaven. Or, if the latter is also referred to, that 
submission, acquiescence and satisfaction in it which 
angels feel and express, may be intended. 

TO KNOW. 

We must pray God to make us able and willing to 
know his will. (2 Cor. iii. 5 ; Gal. i. 15, 16 ; Eph. i. 
17, 19 ; v. 8.) How must we know God's will? Not 
speculatively and rationally only, but spiritually also. 
(1 Cor. ii. 14.) Why is knowing God's will placed 
here before obeying, etc. ? Because the understanding 
is the leading faculty, without which it is impossible 
there should be any obedience. (Prov. xix. 2; Jer. 
v. 4. See also Eph. v. 17 ; Rom. xii. 2 ; Ps. cxix. 
34; Col. i. 9; Ps. xxvii. 11.) All who are sanctified 
truly, desire to know God's will. (Josh. v. 14.) 

OBEY. 

The bare knowledge of God's will is inefficacious ; 
it does not improve the heart. Knowledge alone is like 
a winter sun, which has no heat or influence ; it does 
not warm the affections or purify the conscience. Ju- 
das was a great luminary ; he knew God's will, but 
he was a traitor. Knowing without doing God's will, 
indeed, will make one's case worse. (Luke xii. 47.) 
Many a man's knowledge is a torch to light him to 
hell. In this petition we pray for active obedience. 
We pray that we may be sincere in our obedience (Ps. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 323 



cxix. 80), that we may be exact in our obedience (Ps. 
cxix. 5), that we may be universal in our obedience 
(Col. iv. 12), that we may be armed against that 
which would divert us from our obedience (Ps. cxix. 
37), and that others also may do God's will. (Heb. 
xiii. 21.) 

S TIB MIT. 

We pray also for passive obedience. We are by na- 
ture prone to repine and murmur against the provi- 
dence of God, especially in afflictive dispensations. 
(Num. xiv. 2.) In this petition we ask that God, by 
his grace, would make us able and willing to sub- 
mit to all his dealings with us, even when they seem 
to be adverse. When do we submit to God's afflictive 
dispensations ? When we justify God in them (Dan. 
ix. 7), and acknowledge that he " hath punished us 
less than our iniquities deserve." (Ezra ix. 13.) 

" Whate'er thy lot, whoe'er thou he, 
Confess thy folly, kiss the rod, 
And in thy chastening sorrow see 
The hand of God. 

" A bruised reed he will not break, 
Afflictions all his children feel ; 
He wounds them for his mercy's sake ; 
He wounds to heal." 

AS THE ANGELS DO IN HEAVEN. 

It ought to be the prayer and care, the study and 
endeavor of every Christian, that the commanding 
will of God may be done by himself and by all men 
on earth as it is by the saints and angels in heaven, 
with entireness, harmony, cheerfulness, diligence, con- 



324 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



stancy and ineffable delight. (Heb. ii. 4; viii. 11. 
See also Luke xxii. 42 ; Acts xxi. 14 ; Matt. xxvi. 
39.) Nor should the knowledge of the fact that in 
this life, through the imperfection of our nature, we 
shall never do the will of God in the same absolutely 
perfect way as it is done in heaven, be regarded as a 
reason why we should lower the object of our desires 
or the aim and earnestness of our endeavors. This 
petition is instinct with the very life of missionary en- 
terprise, and the Church cannot offer this clause of the 
divine prayer in the full spirit of its power without be- 
coming a missionary Church. There are some who see 
in it an intimation that our earth is to be one part, at 
least, of the final and glorious abode of the saints. 
(See 2 Pet. iii. 13.) 

A clergyman once paid a visit to a deaf-and-dumb asylum 
in London for the express purpose of examining the children 
in the knowledge they possessed of divine truth. A little boy 
on this occasion was asked in writing, " Who made the world ?" 
He took np the chalk and wrote underneath the question, " In 
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." The 
clergyman then inquired in a similar manner, "Why did Jesus 
Christ come into the world ?" A smile of delight and grati- 
tude rested on the countenance of the little fellow as he wrote, 
" This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that 
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." A third 
question was then proposed, eminently adapted to call his most 
powerful feelings into exercise : " Why were you born deaf 
and dumb, while I can hear and speak ?" " Never," said an 
eye-witness, " shall I forget the look of holy resignation and 
chastened sorrow which sat on his countenance as he took up 
the chalk and wrote, ' Even so, Father, for it seemed good in 
thy sight.' " 

" I have had six children," said Mr. Elliot, " and I bless 



. NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 325 



God for his free grace they are all with Christ, and my mind 
is now at rest concerning them. My desire was that they 
should have served Christ on earth, but if God will choose 
to have them rather serve him in heaven, I have nothing to 
object to it. His will be done." 

There was a good woman who, when she was sick, being 
asked whether she was willing to live or die, answered, 
" Which God pleaseth." "But," said one standing by, "if 
God should refer it to you, which would you choose ?" 
" Truly," said she, " if God should refer it to me, I would 
even refer it back to him." 

Question 104. — What- do we pray for in the fourth 
petition f 

Answer. — In the fourth petition, which is, " Give us 
this day our daily bread," we pray, that of God's free 
gift, we may receive a competent portion of the good 
things of this life, and enjoy his blessing with them. 

This petition is placed after the three former peti- 
tions, because those concern immediately and generally 
God's glory in the advancement of his name, kingdom 
and will, which ought to be preferred to all our per- 
sonal concerns. (Ps. lxix. 9 ; Acts xxi. 13.) It is put 
before the following petitions, not for its worth, but 
for its order, for we can have no spiritual blessings un- 
less we have a natural being in this life. 

BREAD. 

Bread is one principal part of the things which are 
needful for the body, and here, as is often the case, it is 
put for the whole. It comprehends all temporal bless- 
ings, and such as are necessary for the sustenance of 
life, as food, raiment, health, civil peace, etc. This is 
evident from the design of the petition, for we pray for 



326 NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

bread from our necessity. But there are many other 
things besides bread necessary for us. Therefore we pray 
for them also under the term bread. This synecdoche 
often occurs in the Bible. (Gen. iii. 19 ; Ps. xli. 9.) 
Christ furthermore comprehends all temporal blessings 
under the term bread — 1. That he might restrain our 
desires, and teach us to pray only for such things as 
are necessary for the support of life and for the ser- 
vice of God and our neighbor, both in our common and 
proper calling. 2. That he might teach us to pray 
not only for such things as are necessary, but also that 
the use of them might be made profitable to us, and 
tend to our salvation, inasmuch as these things profit 
us nothing without such use. 

We" are taught to ask " daily " the supply of the 
needs of life — 1. That we should not have anxious 
care for the future ; and, 2. Because we are not war- 
ranted to ask, even of the necessaries of life, very large 
supplies, which may serve for weeks, months or years 
to come, but are as children continually to exercise 
the spirit of entire dependence on our heavenly Fa- 
ther's care, and complete confidence in it. (Acts xvii. 
25 ; 1 Tim. vi. 17 ; Matt. iv. 4 ; vi. 34.) The richer 
sort of persons, in offering this petition, do in effect 
say, " Let the bread which is ours come to us this day 
sanctified by thy almighty hands" 

OUB. 

The " our " points to necessary labor, the true way 
of asking and receiving according to God's original 
appointment for man in Gen. iii. 19, independently of 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 327 

which we eat not our own bread (2 Thess. iii. 12 ; 1 
Thess. iv. 11, 12), but another's. It shows that our 
food and raiment must be of God's giving — that is, 
honestly and fairly earned, " for," as an old writer re- 
marks, " to him God gives bread who earns it by right- 
eous means, but to him who earns it by sin the devil it 
is who giveth." It points also to the obligatory commu- 
nication and fellowship, since as we in " our " and " us " 
pray with and for one another, so we may not hold 
anything that we receive, exclusively and covetously 
for ourselves. (Isa. lviii. 7 ; comp. 1 Sam. xxv. 11.) 

COMPETENT PORTION. 

God, who has placed men in different situations, has 
himself rendered a larger share of worldly good things 
necessary to a man of rank, for example, than an ob- 
scure person — to the father of a numerous family than 
to him who is childless. Our Saviour has in his wis- 
dom employed a general expression which admits of 
considerable latitude of application, and authorizes us 
to pray for sufficient bread, for a competent portion, for 
all that our station requires. The prayer of Agur will 
serve as a model, and will show us that, although we 
should not presume to dictate to God, yet there are 
two extremes from which we may pray to be preserved, 
as there is danger to be apprehended from both. (See 
Prov. xxx. 7-9.) 

GIVE. 

Our praying that God would give us this competent 
portion imports our desire to receive it as God's free 
gift. (Gen. xxvii. 28 ; xxxii. 10.) We also thus ac- 
knowledge that in Adam and by our own sin we have 



328 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



forfeited our rights to all the outward blessings of this 
life, and deserve to be wholly deprived of them by God. 
(See Gen. ii. 17 ; Jer. v. 25.) "The tree of mercy," 
says one, " will not drop its fruit unless shaken by the 
hand of prayer. Whatever we have, if it do not come 
in the way of prayer, it doth not come in the way of 
love ; it is given, as Israel's quails, in anger. If every- 
thing be a gift, we do not deserve it ; we are not fit 
for it unless we ask for this alms." 

ENJOY HIS BLESSING. 

Why do we ask for temporal enjoyments from God, 
when we labor for them with our hands ? Because it 
is God who giveth us opportunities and strength for 
labor, success in it, and a blessing with it. (Deut. viii.) 
It is our duty to crave God's blessing on our food, and 
return him thanks for it. (Ex. xxiii. 25.) We must 
pray for God's blessing on all we have (Matt. iv. 4), 
for the prosperity of others (3 John 2), and for the 
support of the poor and needy. 

The Rev. Mr. Winter observes that in a time when he was 
destitute and knew not where to look for a supply, he received 
a letter of which the following is a copy, and which he kept, as 
lie said, to record the kind providence of the Lord : " Dear and 
Rev. Sir : I enclose you twenty pounds, as I suppose your purse 
may be low. I commend you to the grace and love of Jesus ; 
may he long shine upon you and bless you ! My dear friend, 
yours affectionately, John Thornton." 

Some never unite in any form of social prayer but on the 
Sabbath. To suit their hebdomadal devotions this (fourth) 
petition should have run, "Give us this week our weekly 
bread." But as it now is, we have the supplies of the other six 
days unasked for. We acknowledge our dependence on God 
for only a seventh part of our time. — Dr. Nevins. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 329 



Professor Francke relates that at one time all his provision 
was spent; "but in addressing myself," says he, "to the Lord, 
I found myself deeply affected with the fourth petition of the 
Lord's prayer, Give us this day our daily bread; and my 
thoughts were fixed in a more especial manner upon the words 
this day, because on the very same day we had great occasion 
for it. While I was yet praying a friend of mine came before 
my door in a coach, and brought the sum of four hundred 
crowns." 

Question 105. — What do we pray for in the fifth 
petition f 

Answer. — In the fifth petition, which is, "And for- 
give us our debts, as we forgive our debtors," we pray, 
that God, for Christ's sake, would freely pardon all 
our sins; which we are the rather encouraged to ask, 
because by his grace we are enabled from the heart to 
forgive others. 

OUR DEBTS. 

As bread in this prayer comprehends all the neces- 
saries of life, so forgiveness of sins comprehends the 
substance of all that is necessary for the well-being of 
our souls. Sin is . the only bar between God and man ; 
if, therefore, this be removed, there is nothing left to 
impede the most ample communications of his favor. 
Sins are called debts — not properly, but metaphorically. 
All that belongs to a debt will not apply to a crime. 
The former, as being a mere private obligation, may 
be remitted by the creditor, if he please, without any 
satisfaction ; but the latter, being a public evil, com- 
mitted against God as the Governor of the world, can- 
not be consistently forgiven without an atonement 
which shall effectually distinguish that forgiveness 



330 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

from connivance. There is a sufficient resemblance, 
however, between them, to justify the use of the term. 
We owe to God, as his creatures, supreme love and 
unreserved obedience, and in default of paying it 
fall under an obligation to punishment. As a rebel 
against the state forfeits his life, which is his all, to 
his injured country, so, as rebels against God, we have 
forfeited our souls, which are our all, to his injured 
government. (See Luke vii. 41, 42 ; Matt, xviii. 24 : 
Luke xii. 58, 59.) Forgive us our debts — i. e., remit 
the penalty of our offences, and hold us as if we had 
not sinned. (Job vii. 21 ; Ps. xxxii. 1 ; Isa. xliii. 25 ; 
xliv. 22 ; Jer. xxxi. 34 ; Mic. vii. 19 ; Mark ii. 7.) 

FREELY PARDON. 

Higher than bodily want is the spiritual want of the 
soul. But of all that our souls need, forgiveness is the 
most necessary. For of all that oppresses the soul our 
guilt is the heaviest. And before we begin the work 
of improvement, and before we can perform works of 
love, we must first have a free and joyful conscience, 
and forgiveness from our God must be certain. We 
all need this forgiveness. Only one man of all had 
no need to offer this prayer — the Redeemer of our 
sins — and he alone. All the rest of us need forgive- 
ness, forgiveness from God. For all our sins, manifold 
as they are, and whosoever be the persons against whom 
they have been committee!, are still in their ultimate 
foundation sins against God. "Against thee, thee only, 
have I sinned." Only he can forgive us. Even our 
secret faults are meant, even those of which we know 
nothing. For our sins reach much farther than our 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 331 



knowledge, even to the deepest foundation of our 
being. Against all these sins there is for us all only 
one way of deliverance ; that is the way of forgiveness 
and of the humble prayer, " Father, forgive !" 

God pardons us freely. (Ps. xxv. 11.) And he does 
this for Christ's sake. (Rom. iii. 25.) Is it asked, How 
can God be said to pardon our sins freely when he does 
it on account of the righteousness of Christ imputed to 
us? the answer is, God's accepting of Christ as our 
Surety and his fulfilling all righteousness in our room, 
were both of them acts of rich, free and sovereign 
grace. (Ps. lxxxix. 19 ; Luke xii. 50.) Though the 
pardon of our sins be of debt to Christ, yet it is free 
to us. (Eph. i. vii. See Ps. xxv. 11 ; xli. 4; li. 1, 2; 
cxliii. 2 ; Rom. iii. 24 ; Hos. xiv. 2 ; Job x. 2.) 

AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS. 

In Luke xi. 4 it is, " for we also forgive," etc. The 
word as, meaning according as, like as, is not a note of 
equality, but similitude — not that we equal God in for- 
giving, but imitate him. It has also in a measure the 
sense of inasmuch as. The willingness of the suppli- 
ant is by no means a ground upon which God can be- 
stow on him forgiveness, but rather a subjective condi- 
tion without which he has no boldness to entreat the 
forgiveness of his own sins. (See Matt. vi. 14, 15 ; 
James ii. 13 ; 1 John iv. 18, 19.) This condition 
or qualification requires that we forgive cordially 
(Jer. xxxi. 34; Matt, xviii. 35), fully (Ps. ciii. 3), 
often. (Isa. lv. 7 ; Matt, xviii. 21.) It is a very strik- 
ing consideration that this petition is so framed that, 
if presented in an unforgiving spirit, it is indeed an 



332 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 



imprecation of divine vengeance. He who does not 
forgive his neighbor his trespasses, when he uses this 
prayer in effect asks God not to forgive him his tres- 
passes ; and if he continues in his present temper, there 
is no doubt that his prayer will be answered. (Col. iii. 
13 ; James v. 9 ; Mark xi. 25 ; Matt, xviii. 33 ; vi. 14, 
15.) 

Rev. Charles Simeon says: "To pass by a transgression is 
more becoming the gospel than to resent it. A man strikes 
me with his sword and inflicts a wound. Suppose, instead of 
binding up the wound, I am showing it to everybody, and af- 
ter it has been bound up I am taking off the bandage continu- 
ally, and examining the depth of the wound and making it 
fester, till my limb becomes greatly inflamed and my general 
health is materially affected; is there a person in the world 
who would not call me a fool ? Now, such a fool is he also 
who, by dwelling upon little injuries or insults or provoca- 
tions, causes them to agitate and influence his mind. How 
much better were it to put a bandage over the wound and 
never look at it again !" 

Question 106. — What do we pray for in the sixth 
petition f 

Answer. — In the sixth 'petition, which is, "And lead 
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," we pray, 
that God would either keep us from being tempted to sin, 
or support and deliver us when we are tempted. 

PETITION FOR THE FUTURE. 

As the prayer for daily bread raises us above care 
for to-day, and the prayer for the forgiveness of sins is 
meant to quiet us concerning the past, so is the prayer 
against temptation a weapon for the uncertain future. 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 333 



It consists of two parts: 1. Deprecatory. 2. Peti- 
tionary. 

LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION. 

The Greek word rendered lead is only used seven 
times in the New Testament. Excepting in the Lord's 
Prayer our translators have always rendered it " bring 
into." (Luke v. 18, 19 ; Acts xvii. 20 ; 1 Tim. vi. 7 ; Heb. 
xiii. 11.) "Temptation" means "trial." God never 
puts evil into our hearts or stirs it up there by any 
positive influence. (James i. 13.) In the former re- 
spect our own lusts tempt us (James i. 14) — in the lat- 
ter, Satan or wicked men. (Matt. iv. 3.) But Provi- 
dence may permit us to be brought into such circum- 
stances as have a tendency to give our corruptions and 
the temptations of Satan and his agents peculiar ad- 
vantage against us. This the Lord sometimes does, to 
prove the reality or power of our grace, the sincerity 
or hypocrisy of our profession, or the remaining preva- 
lence of sin. (Gen. xxii. 1 ; Job i. 11.) "A saint's whole 
life," says Austin, " is a temptation." 

This petition asks that God would graciously prevent 
us from being brought into circumstances of strong 
temptation ; that he would not leave us to struggle 
with it in our own strength ; that he would instruct 
us to avoid and enable us to overcome our tempta- 
tions. He who would honestly and acceptably pre- 
sent this petition, must guard against going into 
temptation. (Gal. vi. 1 ; Matt. xxvi. 41. See also 2 
Cor. xii. 8; Ps. cxix. 133; cxli. 4; li. 11, 12; Luke 
xxii. 32; 1 Cor. x. 13; Eph. vi. 13, 18.) But when 
in the course of God's good providence and the pur- 



334 NOTES ON THE SHOKTER CATECHISM. 



suit of a known duty we find ourselves involved in 
circumstances of trial, then we are taught to u count 
it all joy " (James i. 2), for then it may be humbly 
hoped that the tempter beholds in us that living prin- 
ciple of earnestness which it is the whole business of 
himself and his accursed emissaries to assail, and, if 
possible, to destroy. (See 2 Cor. xii. 10 ; Heb. iv. 
15.) 

BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL. 

Here we confess that evil is in us and near us, and 
on every side, and that we have no power to deliver 
ourselves from it. We apply to the Strong for strength. 
We cast ourselves on him for protection. In these 
words we pray not only to be kept from evil, but also 
that we may make progress in piety. (Tit. ii. 12 ; Rom. 
xii. 9 ; Isa. i. 16 ; 2 Cor. vii. 1.) The evil we seek to 
be delivered from is — 1. The evil of our own heart. 
(Rom. vii. 23; Heb. iii. 12.) 2. The evil of Satan. 
(Matt. xiii. 19; 2 Cor. ii. 11 ; Eph. vi. 12; 1 Pet. v. 
8.) 3. The evil of the world. (Gal. i. 4.) 4. The 
evil of God's wrath. (Rom. vi. 23 ; Rev. xxi. 8.) The 
many expressions in the Psalms (liv. 5 ; lix. 1,10; cxliii. 
12, etc.) which speak of enemies, and pray for victory 
or deliverance, may be considered in their spiritual 
meaning to look in the direction of the present peti- 
tion. On Christian lips they convey a desire akin to 
that here expressed. (1 Chron. iv. 10 ; Ps. xvii. 8 ; 
xci. 10; 2 Tim. i. 12 ; 2 Cor. i. 10.) 

A plain countryman, who was effectually called by divine 
grace under a sermon from Zech. iii. 2, was some time afterward 
accosted by a quondam companion of his drunken revelries, 
and strongly solicited to accompany him to the ale-house. But 



NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 335 



the good man strongly resisted all his arguments, saying, "I 
am a brand plucked out of the fire." His old companion not 
understanding this, he explained it thus: "Look ye," said 
he, "there is a great difference between a brand and a green 
stick. If a spark flies upon a brand that has been partly 
burned, it will soon catch fire again, but it is not so with a 
green stick. I tell you I am that brand plucked out of the 
fire, and I dare not venture into the way of temptation for fear 
of being set on fire." 

Question 107. — What doth the conclusion of the 
Lord's Prayer teach us? 

Answer. — The conclusion of the Lord's Prayer, 
which is, " For thine is the kingdom, and the power, 
and the glory, for ever, Amen," teacheth us to take our 
encouragement in prayer from God only, and in our 
prayers to praise him, ascribing kingdom, power, and 
glory to him : and in testimony of our desire and as- 
surance to be heard, we say, Amen. 

FOR THINE IS Til ~E KINGDOM. 

Some refer this to David's doxology. (1 Chron. xxix. 
11.) It has reference as a plea to the first three peti- 
tions of the prayer — " Thy kingdom come," for thine 
is the kingdom. Thou hast the government of the 
world and the protection of thy saints, thy willing 
subjects, in it. (2 Chron. xx. 6.) " Thy will be done," 
for thine is the power to maintain that kingdom and 
to make good all thine engagements to thy people. 
(Jer. xxxii. 17.) " Hallowed be thy name," for thine 
is the glory, as the end of all that which is done for the 
saints in answer to their prayers, for their praise 
waiteth for thee. (Ps. lxv. 1 ; lxxix. 9.) It is our 
duty to plead with God in prayer, to fill our mouth 



336 KOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 

with arguments (Job xxiii. 4) — not to move God, but 
to affect ourselves, to encourage our faith, excite our 
fervency, and evidence both. (Job xxiii. 13 ; Isa. lxiv. 
7.) Some see in this threefold doxology an ascription 
of praise to each of the Persons of the Trinity. 

IZT OUR FRATERS TO PRAISE HIM. 

In prayers we are to praise God. (Ps. cxlv. 2.) This 
is the way to obtain further mercy, as it qualifies us to 
receive it. 

AMEN. 

To the whole prayer the Hebrew word "Amen " is 
subjoined. In this connection the word signifies — 1. 
So let it be, or let that come to pass which we ask. 
2. May God, who is not unmindful of his promise, 
certainly and truly hear us ! (Jer. xi. 5 ; 1 John v. 
15; Ps. cvi. 48.) 



THE END. 



